Potential for Irreversible Organ Damage Makes Timely Diagnosis Critical2-5
New signs and symptoms seen in the year following transplant should be evaluated as potential chronic GVHD.5
In a prospective single-center study of 115 patients who developed cGVHD beyond day 100 after HSCT, maximum grade was reached at a median of 6 months (range, 1-16 months) after onset of cGVHD.6


Steroid-Refractory cGVHD May Be Identified as Early as 1 Week From the Start of Steroid Treatment1


cGVHD, chronic graft-versus-host disease; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplant; NIH, National Institutes of Health.
References
- Martin PJ, Lee SJ, Przepiorka D, et al. National Institutes of Health consensus development project on criteria for clinical trials in chronic graft-versus-host disease: VI. The 2014 Clinical Trial design Working Group report. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2015;21:1343-1359.
- Lee SJ, Vogelsang G, Flowers MED. Chronic graft-versus-host disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2003;9(4):215-233.
- Hildebrandt GC, Fazekas T, Lawitschka A, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary chronic GVHD: report from the consensus conference on clinical practice in chronic GVHD. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2011;46(10):1283-1295.
- Nassiri N, Eslani M, Panahi N, et al. Ocular graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic stem cell transplantation: a review of current knowledge and recommendations. J Ophthalmic Vis Res. 2013;8(84):351-358.
- Lee SJ, Flowers MED. Recognizing and managing chronic graft-versus-host disease. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2008;228(1):134-141.
- Kuzmina Z, Eder S, Bohm A, et al. Significantly worse survival of patients with NIH-defined chronic graft-versus-host disease and thrombocytopenia or progressive onset type: results of a prospective study. Leukemia. 2012;26(4):746-756.
- Schoemans HM, Lee SJ, Ferrara JL, et al; EBMT Transplant Complications Working Party and the “EBMT−NIH−CIBMTR GvHD Task Force.” EBMT-NIH-CIBMTR Task Force position statement on standardized terminology & guidance for graft-versus-host disease assessment. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2018;53(11):1401-1415.
- MacDonald KPA, Betts BC, Couriel D. Emerging therapeutics for the control of chronic graft-versus-host disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2018;24(1):19-26.