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The following is a summary of “Association between early anti-cytomegalovirus therapy and the incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease,” published in the November 2024 issue of Hematology by Miyao et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the impact of early anti-CMV therapy on chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) risk. 

They conducted a retrospective nationwide study of 8,890 patients aged 16 or older with hematological malignancies, receiving foscarnet (n=1,555) or ganciclovir (n=7,335) during their first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). 

The results showed higher risks of chronic GVHD (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.13–1.40; P < 0.001) and extensive chronic GVHD (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.01–1.33; P = 0.033) with ganciclovir. In male patients with female donors, the 3-year incidence of extensive chronic GVHD was lower with foscarnet (13%) than ganciclovir (27%; P < 0.001). 

They concluded that foscarnet reduced the incidence of chronic GVHD, especially in male patients receiving HSCT from female donors, and suggested that foscarnet may influence alloimmunization and lower GVHD risk. 

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12185-024-03871-4