BACKGROUND: We identified risk factors for acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD and cGVHD, respectively) in recipients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from unrelated donors in the China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analyzed follow-up clinical information from 1824 patients who underwent HSCT between 2001 and 2010.

RESULTS: The incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD after transplantation was 49.29% and 27.3%, respectively. aGVHD incidence decreased as HLA matching increased (p<0.001). Incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD was higher in 2 HLA-A locus donor/recipient groups (02: 01/02: 06 and 02: 01/02: 07; p≤0.022). aGVHD incidence was associated with patient age, absence of rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) pretreatment, and disease status (p≤0.040). aGVHD appeared to be a risk factor for cGVHD, and total body irradiation (TBI) was also associated with cGVHD. Patients with cGVHD after transplantation had a higher survival rate than patients without cGVHD (p<0.001), which may be due to reduced relapse rates. Survival was also associated with ATG prophylaxis and disease status.

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of GVHD after HSCT from unrelated donors in the Chinese population is similar to the results reported from other countries. A high degree of HLA matching, a conditioning regimen without TBI, and the use of ATG may reduce the incidence of aGVHD.

Keywords: Graft vs Host Disease, Whole-Body Irradiation, Hematopoietic Stem Cells