Graft-versus-Host Disease — From the Bench to the Bedside?

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Abstract
Myeloablative conditioning with high doses of chemotherapy before transplantation of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells is a procedure that can cure hematologic malignant diseases, but its wide applicability is limited by a substantial death rate. Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which occurs in more than half the patients who undergo this treatment, is the main contributor to transplant-related mortality.Recent experimental data indicate that acute GVHD develops in three phases1,2: epithelial-cell injury caused by the conditioning regimen; activation of donor T-cell lymphocytes by antigens presented by the recipient's dendritic cells; and cell death induced by activated T cells, cytokines (such . . .