Research published in the journal Blood Advances present the findings of an analysis undertaken of 937 patients, which investigated the total number of occurrences of cGVHD and nonrelapse mortality (NRM) reported in the cohort, with particular focus on the cause of death in each instance. Results of the authors' analysis indicated that the percentage of the cohort experiencing NRM increased the longer the follow up period, with nearly a quarter of patients (22%) experiencing NRM at the 5-year follow up period.

Patients undergoing allo-HCT frequently develop chronic Graft Versus Host Disease following transplantation, whereby donor T cells attack the transplant recipient. Because of the correlation between cGVHD and NRM — and because cGVHD accounts for the highest rate of mortality following allo-HCT — researchers sought to investigate the associated risk factors between cGVHD and NRM.

According to the researchers' multivariate analysis, cGVHD accounted for the largest percentage of NRM deaths (37.8%), followed by undiagnosed causes (23.3%), infection (16.9%), and respiratory failure (9.6%). Predictive calculations indicate that at the 12-year follow up period, approximately 40% of patients will experience NRM after developing cGVHD following allo-HCT. Although future studies are needed, this study demonstrated that NRM continues to increase over time in cGVHD without an apparent plateau and is most commonly attributed to GVHD or infection.

Reference:

DeFilipp Z, Alousi AM, Pidala JA, et al. Nonrelapse mortality among patients diagnosed with chronic GVHD: an updated analysis from the Chronic GVHD Consortium. Blood Adv. 2021;5(20):4278-4284.

https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004941

Tags: GVHD, Patients, Research, Mortality, analysis, chronic, chronic GVHD, Patient Education, nonrelapse