This occurs only in an allogeneic transplant, and the risk depends upon the tissue type match of the donor, and whether the blood stem cells are processed to remove cells that may cause GVHD. In GVHD, certain cells from the donor (T cells) may identify cells in the patient’s body (the host) as foreign. The cells are then attacked, damaging organs such as the skin, liver and intestines. To avoid this complication of a BMT, immunosuppressant drugs may be given to suppress the donor’s T cells, or the blood stem cells may be processed to remove T cells.
A potentially fatal complication arising after a transplant wherein the transplant recipient's body recognizes the new stem cells as foreign and attacks them.
relating to the bodily condition that results when cells from a tissue or organ transplant mount an immunological attack against the cells or tissues of the host.
Graft vs. host disease is a disease that may happen after you receive a bone marrow transplant. When someone going through treatment for cancer receives bone marrow from a donor, it is possible that the donor's white cells will attack parts of the receiver's body. The parts of the body commonly affected by GVHD are the skin, stomach and liver.
a dangerous side effect of a bone marrow transplant. In normal organ transplants, the host body immune system can reject the foreign tissues, but in bone marrow transplants the new antibodies provided by the new bone marrow reject the host body.
(GVHD): A complication of stem cell transplantation in patients receiving stem cells from another person. The newly transplanted immune system identifies the patient's body as foreign and attacks it, resulting in varying degrees of damage to three target organs: the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and liver.
A collection of ailments that sometimes arises after bone marrow transplants, when the donor's immune system (the "graft") attacks various tissues (the gut, skin, etc.) of the patient.