Lymphocyte Profiles and Activation Status in Patients With Graft-Versus-Host Disease

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To explore and assess changes in subsets and activation status of B-, T,-, and natural killer (NK) lymphocytes in peripheral blood following allogeneic stem cell transplant and how they may be associated with clinical events with an ultimate future goal of conducting a larger successor study to identify potential therapeutic targets based on its findings.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess the feasibility of obtaining and comparing patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) with time-matched stem cell transplant (SCT) patients without cGVHD and identify logistical challenges with obtaining and processing samples in each of the subgroups of interest for these analyses.

II. To assess and explore differences in lymphocyte subsets (B-, T-, and NK) between those with vs. without cGVHD.

III. To assess and explore differences in cytokines in patients with cGVHD vs. those without.

IV. To describe lymphocyte subsets and activation and explore how these may be related to specific clinical manifestations of cGVHD.

OUTLINE:

Blood samples are analyzed for activation status of B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and NK lymphocytes via flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT), immunoblot, and microarray assays.