recipient leukocyte infusion

Recipient leukocyte infusion (RLI) is an adoptive cell therapy strategy used primarily in the context of nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). Unlike donor leukocyte infusion (DLI), which utilizes donor cells to achieve a graft-versus-leukemia effect, RLI involves the infusion of the patient's own (recipient) leukocytes into a recipient who has previously achieved mixed chimerism. The goal of RLI is to intentionally induce a host-versus-graft (HvG) reaction to reject the donor graft. This rejection process paradoxically triggers a robust anti-tumor response mediated by the reactivation and expansion of recipient-derived effector cells, such as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. This approach aims to achieve graft-versus-tumor effects without the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is a common complication of donor-derived therapies.

Other names

recipient lymphocyte infusionhost leukocyte infusion