Acute Graft Versus Host Disease in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Alotransplant Recipients

Abstract

The transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT) is a therapeutic intervention where the hematopoietic stem cells and the cells originating from them are being removed and replaced by the normal stem cells of donor or the patient him/her-self. HSCT today represent standardized biological manipulation for treating malignant, genetic and autoimmune diseases. The application of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is limited by life-threatening complications such as severe or acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Despite intensive prophylaxis with immunosuppressive agents, the incidence of GVHD occurs in 9-50% of patients undergoing transplant with an identical HLA sibling matched donor and 75% of patients undergoing unrelated HLA donors.