Pre-transplant microbiome sets the stage for graft-versus-host disease

Bone marrow transplants have saved the lives of thousands of blood cancer patients, but graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, remains a debilitating and even life-threatening complication. A new study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center points to patients’ pre-transplant gut microbiome as a major player in the development and severity of GVHD.