Graft Versus Host Disease

Abstract

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) that remains as a common cause of morbidity and mortality after successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) [1-5]. GVHD has been recognized since the early days of BMT, which was pioneered by Dr. Ed Thomas in the late 1950s [6] for which he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Unlike other forms of immunologic rejection in which the host reacts against the foreign cells of the graft, GVHD results from the reaction of transplanted immunocompetent cells against the host, hence its name graft (donor cells) vs. host (patient) disease. GVHD has long been recognized in animal systems, manifested by erythroderma, generalized wasting, diarrhea, jaundice, and ultimately death [7, 8].