Silver lining: reduced relapse with chronic GVHD after transplant for MDS

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD): Also called GVHD, it is a common complication of bone marrow/stem cell transplantation. It is caused when the donor's immune cells, now in the patient, begin to see the the patient's body as foreign and mount an immune response. GVHD most commonly effects the recipient's skin, intestines, or liver… following hematopoietic cell transplantation is associated with reduced relapse incidence in patients with leukemias. This impact has been investigated in myelodysplastic syndrome, showing a beneficial impact of limited chronic GVHD on transplant outcomes in a cohort of more than 3,000 patients.