Treating GVHD in Patients with Myelofibrosis Following Transplant

Tania Jain, MBBS, assistant professor of oncology, Division of Hematological Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation, Johns Hopkins University, discusses the current treatment options for graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), a known complication of allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT), which is the only curative treatment option for patients with myelofibrosis (MF).

There is a lot of work to be done in the treatment landscape for patients with MF. The only curative option for these patients is allogeneic SCT, and even drugs in the pipeline for MF do not offer anything curative at this time, says Jain.

GVHD is a known and unique complication of the allogenic SCT process. Acute GVHD, in particular, can present as a skin rash, upper/lower gastrointestinal symptoms, or liver disease. It is a result of potential tissue injury the happens from conditioning and results in increases of cytokine release, Jain says. Treatment is aimed to improve inflammation.