Recommendations for Donor HLA Assessment and Matching for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation Consensus Opinion of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network BMT CTN
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network conducts large, multi institutional clinical trials with the goal of improving the outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with life threatening disorders. Well designed HCT trials benefit from standardized criteria for defining diagnoses, treatment plans and graft source selection. In this perspective, we summarize evidence supporting criteria for the selection of related and unrelated adult volunteer progenitor cell donors or umbilical cord blood units. These standardized criteria for graft source selection have been adopted by the BMT CTN to enhance the interpretation of clinical findings within and among future clinical protocols.