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Risk factors for grades 2-4 acute graftversus-host disease (GVHD) and for chronic GVHD as defined by National Institutes of Health consensus criteria were evaluated and compared in 2941 recipients of first allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation at our center. In multivariate analyses, the profiles of risk factors for acute and chronic GVHD were similar, with some notable differences. Recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatching and the use of unrelated donors had a greater effect on the risk of acute GVHD than on chronic GVHD, whereas the use of female donors for male recipients had a greater effect on the risk of chronic GVHD than on acute GVHD. Total body irradiation was strongly associated with acute GVHD, but had no statistically significant association with chronic GVHD, whereas grafting with mobilized blood cells was strongly associated with chronic GVHD but not with acute GVHD. Older patient age was associated with chronic GVHD, but had no effect on acute GVHD. For all risk factors associated with chronic GVHD, point estimates and confidence intervals were not significantly changed after adjustment for prior acute GVHD. These results suggest that the mechanisms involved in acute and chronic GVHD are not entirely congruent and that chronic GVHD is not simply the end stage of acute GVHD. (Blood. 2011;117(11):3214-3219) IntroductionDuring the past 3 decades, several studies have identified risk factors associated with the development of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). 1 In these studies, acute GVHD generally referred to disease manifestations that occurred within the first 100 days after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), [2][3][4] and chronic GVHD referred to disease manifestations that were present after day 100. 5 The most consistently reported factors significantly associated with an increased risk of grades 2-4 acute GVHD were recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatching with the donor, 6-8 alloimmunization of the donor, 9-12 the use of a female donor for male recipients, 9,11-13 and older patient age. 11,13,14 Less consistently reported risk factors have included prior cytomegalovirus infection in the recipient, 14,15 higher intensity of the conditioning regimen (irradiation), 12,14 donor age, 16 and grafting with growth factor-mobilized blood cells. 14,17 For chronic GVHD, the most consistently reported risk factors include prior acute GVHD, 18-20 grafting with growth factor-mobilized blood cells, 17,21,22 the use of a female donor for male recipients, 19,20,23 older patient age, 18-20,23 and mismatched and unrelated donors. 20,24 The objective of the current study was to compare risk factor profiles for grades 2-4 acute and chronic GVHD. For this purpose, we used diagnostic criteria recommended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease. 25 According to these criteria, acute and chronic GVHD are distinguished by differences in clinical manifestations and...

BACKGROUND Despite current therapies, diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) often has a devastating outcome. We compared myeloablative CD34+ selected autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation with immunosuppression by means of 12 monthly infusions of cyclophosphamide in patients with scleroderma. METHODS We randomly assigned adults (18 to 69 years of age) with severe scleroderma to undergo myeloablative autologous stem-cell transplantation (36 participants) or to receive cyclophosphamide (39 participants). The primary end point was a global rank composite score comparing participants with each other on the basis of a hierarchy of disease features assessed at 54 months: death, event-free survival (survival without respiratory, renal, or cardiac failure), forced vital capacity, the score on the Disability Index of the Health Assessment Questionnaire, and the modified Rodnan skin score. RESULTS In the intention-to-treat population, global rank composite scores at 54 months showed the superiority of transplantation (67% of 1404 pairwise comparisons favored transplantation and 33% favored cyclophosphamide, P = 0.01). In the per-protocol population (participants who received a transplant or completed ≥9 doses of cyclophosphamide), the rate of event-free survival at 54 months was 79% in the transplantation group and 50% in the cyclophosphamide group (P = 0.02). At 72 months, Kaplan–Meier estimates of event-free survival (74% vs. 47%) and overall survival (86% vs. 51%) also favored transplantation (P = 0.03 and 0.02, respectively). A total of 9% of the participants in the transplantation group had initiated disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) by 54 months, as compared with 44% of those in the cyclophosphamide group (P = 0.001). Treatment-related mortality in the transplantation group was 3% at 54 months and 6% at 72 months, as compared with 0% in the cyclophosphamide group. CONCLUSIONS Myeloablative autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation achieved long-term benefits in patients with scleroderma, including improved event-free and overall survival, at a cost of increased expected toxicity. Rates of treatment-related death and post-transplantation use of DMARDs were lower than those in previous reports of nonmyeloablative transplantation. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institutes of Health; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00114530.)