Adoptive T-cell Therapy for Viral Disease in the Setting of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Viral infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Adoptive transfer of donor-derived virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes is a strategy to restore virus-specific immunity to prevent or treat viral diseases. Initial clinical studies confirmed that administration of donor-derived T cells specific for cytomegalovirus or Epstein-Barr virus could restore antiviral immunity and control viral infections. Current initiatives are focusing on extending the number of viruses targeted, simplifying manufacture to make the approach more broadly applicable, and evaluating the use of banked "third-party" virus-specific T cells for recipients with virus-naïve donors.