Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a complication that can occur following an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a procedure often used to treat blood cancer. During the procedure, a patient's damaged or cancerous blood cells are replaced with healthy stem cells (immature cells) from a donor. These stem cells will form new healthy blood cells in the patient. When healthcare professionals use the term GvHD, graft refers to the donor cells and host refers to the recipient.

In patients with GvHD, the donor's immune cells (T cells) see the recipient's healthy tissue as foreign, which activates an immune response from the donor cells, causing them to attack the recipient's tissue. GvHD commonly affects a patient's skin, liver, and digestive tract, but it can also affect the lungs, eyes, mouth, hair, nails, joints, muscles, kidneys, and genitals. The immune response can damage the patient's tissues, and symptoms can range from mild to severe, and in some cases, life-threatening. Careful monitoring after transplantation is necessary to identify any signs of GvHD.

GvHD can be acute, which typically occurs within 100 days of transplantation, or chronic, which generally presents 100 days after transplantation. Treatment for GvHD aims to manage symptoms and prevent further damage to the patient's body.

References

1. Justiz Vaillant AA, Modi P, Mohammadi O. Graft-versus-host disease. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2024. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538235. Accessed Nov 16, 2024.
2. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Graft-versus-host disease NCCN guidelines for patients. http://www.nccn.org/patients/guidelines/content/PDF/GVDH-patient-guideline.pdf. Accessed Nov 16, 2024.