Systematic review and meta-analysis: transplanted hematopoietic stem cells and killer cells on leukemia

meta-analysis was performed to study the therapeutic effect of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation combined with killer cells (important immune cells of the body) on leukemia, hoping to enhance the postoperative therapeutic efficiency.

literatures were searched with "Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation", "killer cell", "leukemia", "Cytokine induction", etc. as search terms using Boolean logic search. Review Manager was utilized for meta-analysis after literature screening.

eleven literatures were included, most of which were of low-risk bias (medium-high quality). Through meta-analysis, statistical heterogeneity was found in non-recurring mortality (NRM) between control group and experimental group (Chi2 =15.69, I2=62%, P=0.02). The leukemia-free survival rate between two groups was not heterogeneous (Chi2 =13.16, I2=32%, P=0.16), without considerable difference between groups (Z=1.52, P=0.13). The incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) between the two groups was statistically heterogeneous (Chi2 =21.38, I2=67%, P=0.003). The incidence of graft-versus-host disease in experimental group was greatly inferior to controls (Z=3.87, P=0.0001).

hematopoietic stem cell transplantation combined with killer cells can effectively reduce the incidence of GvHD after stem cell transplantation in patients. The prognosis of transplantation was good, and it had no obvious effect on the overall survival rate and recurrence rate.