doi:10.1155/2012/680841 Review Article Role of HLA in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The selection of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) donors includes a rigorous assessment of the availability and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match status of donors. HLA plays a critical role in HSCT, but its involvement in HSCT is constantly in flux because of changing technologies and variations in clinical transplantation results. The increased availability of HSCT through the use of HLA-mismatched related and unrelated donors is feasible with a more complete understanding of permissible HLA mismatches and the role of killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes in HSCT. The influence of nongenetic factors on the tolerability of HLA mismatching has recently become evident, demonstrating a need for the integration of both genetic and nongenetic variables in donor selection. 1