One strategy of managing relapse, donor leukocyte infusion, might eliminate the need for a second BMT in some patients.
[citation needed] The goal of this therapy is to induce a remission of the patient's cancer by a process called the graft-versus-tumor effect (GVT).
The donor T-cells can attack and control the growth of residual cancer cells providing the GVT effect.
Patients might require standard chemotherapy, to reduce the amount of cancer cells they have prior to their donor lymphocyte infusion.
[citation needed] Complications of DLI include acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease and bone marrow aplasia, resulting in immunosuppression and susceptibility to opportunistic infections.