Graft-vs-Leukemia Effect

**Semantic type:** Organ or Tissue Function

**Definition:** an advantageous side-effect of a graft-vs-host reaction in which a leukemia patient is first irradiated to kill residual leukemic cells and is then given a bone marrow graft to replenish the immune system. If cytotoxic T cells are not depleted from the bone marrow graft, these alloreactive T cells can attack the host's cells (graft-vs-host reaction) but can also attack the host's residual leukemic cells, thereby assisting in preventing recurrence of disease.

**Synonyms:** - GVL - Graft-Versus-Leukemia Effect