04Feb/13

Cells predict onset of graft-versus-host disease in men receiving BMTs from female donors

Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have identified a clutch of cells that — if seen in a male patient’s blood after receiving a brand-new immune system in the form of a bone-marrow transplant from a female donor — herald the onset of chronic graft-versus-host disease, or cGVHD. In this devastating syndrome, the patient’s tissues come under a vicious and enduring assault by …