How do you select the optimal donor for transplant?

The GvHD Hub are proud to present expert interviews directly from the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in Orlando, US. This interview with Arnon Nagler, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IL, was based on the question: How do you select the optimal donor for transplant?

Professor Nagler discusses the difficulties that can be faced in finding a matched donor, and notes that haploidentical transplant from a parent, sibling or child is more prominent but less successful. However, new technology, especially non-T-cell depleted transplant with GvHD prophylaxis now can yield good results with almost no difference observed between matched-unrelated and haploidentical donors.

Professor Nagler concludes that sibling donors are the optimal donor where possible, though if there is insufficient time to search for an unrelated donor, then non-T-cell depleted haploidentical transplant with post-transplant cyclophosphamide should be conducted.