Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation is associated with a lower incidence of relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)

Preemptive therapy at CMV reactivation has diminished post-transplant CMV mortality. Furthermore, recent studies suggest a favorable “virus-versus-leukemia” effect from reactivating CMV, reducing relapse of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after SCT. We studied the relationship of CMV reactivation with leukemic relapse in 110 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) receiving HLA-identical sibling SCT between 1993 and 2008. Seventy nine (71.8%) were in chronic phase, 5 in second chronic phase, 17 in accelerated phase and 9 in blast phase. Ninety seven patients (88.2%) received a myeloablative conditioning regimen; 99 received 4-log ex vivo T-cell depleted grafts and 13 received T-replete grafts. CMV reactivation before day 100 was observed in 72 patients (65.5%). At a median follow up of 6.2 years, CMV reactivation