[Graft-versus-host disease: current understanding of immune pathogenesis and clinical treatment]

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major complication that occurs after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). While the allogeneic immune response may cause GVHD, it also plays essential roles in the resultant antitumor effects and in engraftment facilitation. Therefore, the application of necessary and sufficient immune control at an appropriate time according to the condition of each individual patient is the key to successful HSCT. Recently, the landscape of HSCT has changed drastically due to the diversification of transplanted grafts and the emergence of novel immunosuppressive methods and immune-modulatory agents. In this review, we first describe the current understanding of the immune pathogenesis of acute and chronic GVHD, and then, we discuss the characterization and therapeutic intervention for GVHD after diversified HSCT.