Immunomodulation and pharmacological strategies in the treatment of graft-versus-host disease

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation offers great promise for the treatment of a variety of diseases including malignancies and other diseases of hematopoietic origin. However, morbidity and mortality due to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remain a major barrier to its application. Objective: This review will provide an overview of the pathophysiology of GVHD and discuss the recent advances in GVHD management in both preclinical and clinical studies. Methods: An extensive literature search on PubMed from 1995 to 2008 was performed. Results/conclusion: There has been much progress in our understanding of GVHD and finding new means to control acute GVHD. While these approaches hold promise, as yet none has been able to replace the standard methods we may use routinely to decrease the incidence of the condition.