Hi @kgneal. Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect and to the BMT group! Happy to have you and your dad join us! There’s an ever growing number of us who have undergone the allogeneic stem cell transplant for our blood cancers. While it’s an amazing life altering event, giving us a second chance at life, there are always a few surprises that come along with it. So it’s helpful to be able to speak with others going through the same challenges.

Having increases in the MRD (measurable residual disease) means a small number of cancer cells are showing up in the testing following your dad’s BMT. Since he’s almost a year post transplant, that is raising the eyebrows of his transplant team. It’s not an ‘omg’ moment but one that bears further investigation. It looks like his team is already on it with the request to have your dad back at the clinic for evaluation.

The DLI (donor lymphocyte infusion) can be helpful in situations like this where the new immune system your dad acquired, needs a ‘booster’! The new immune system is doing what it can to fend off any cancer cells but it might need a little more oomph to put it up to full capacity. Doesn’t mean it’s failing, just that it needs some backup. ☺️

Here’s a link to a search in Connect for DLI discussions. Feel free to drop into any conversation to ask members such as @dwolden, whose husband had a DLI to bump up his Chimerism.

DLI search: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/

What are your dad’s chimera results? What led your dad to require a BMT?