A case of sclerodermatous graft-versus-host disease following autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

We report a 65-year-old woman with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) who developed severely sclerotic skin on the fingers, hand and trunk following autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). The patient had suffered from breast cancer and been treated with surgery and chemotherapy. She showed pancytopenia and was treated with APBCST. Four years after APBSCT, she developed the severe sclerotic changes on the fingers, hands, extremities and trunk. The skin biopsy showed a flattened epidermis and a proliferation of collagen bundles in the dermis. No anti-nucleolar DNA titers were detected in the serum. She was diagnosed with chronic GVHD. Despite treatment with oral prednisolone, the skin sclerotic change developed and the breast cancer recurred. She died due to pericarditis. This is a rare case of sclerodermatous GVHD following APBSCT. The serum interleukin (IL)-12 levels were examined during the treatment.