Miguel-Angel Perales on Graft Versus Host Disease

Miguel-Angel Perales, MD, deputy chief, Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service, director, Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Fellowship Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses graft versus host disease (GVHD) after a bone marrow transplant.

A bone marrow transplant remains a critical treatment approach for patients with acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, but can be associated with complications such as GVHD.

GVHD happens when the donor's

white blood cells (T cells) attack the patient’s organs, which can cause many problems, Perales says.

A national phase III study being run by the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network is evaluating GVHD relapse-free survival in patients 1 year after transplant to hopefully reduce complications from transplant.