[Research advances in mesenchymal stem cell therapy for graft-versus-host disease]

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains a severe complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and effective treatment options remain limited, particularly for patients with steroid-refractory GVHD or failure of multiple lines of therapy. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has shown promise for the prevention and treatment of GVHD because of the low immunogenicity and immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-reparative properties of MSC. To date, MSC-based products have been approved for the treatment of acute GVHD (aGVHD) in several countries, including China. Although MSC therapy is generally well tolerated, its broader clinical application remains challenged by substantial interindividual variability in therapeutic response, potential safety concerns, and the lack of harmonized standards for manufacturing and quality control. This review systematically summarizes recent clinical research on MSC-based interventions for GVHD and critically discusses their therapeutic prospects and current limitations, with the aim of informing standardized and precision-oriented clinical application of MSC therapy.