Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Abstract

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for long-term transplant survivors. The scenarios in this chapter highlight the current understanding of the clinical assessment and treatment of cGVHD. Risk factors for the development of cGVHD include prior acute GVHD, use of peripheral blood stem cells as a grafting source, use of a female donor for a male recipient, older patient age, and use of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-mismatched and/or unrelated donor. The chapter presents multiple question and answers on chronic graft-versus-host disease. Some of these questions focus on the diagnostic features of cGVHD and the initiation of systemic therapy for cGVHD.