Delay Of Regulatory T Cell Reconstitution In Elderly Patients Increases The Frequency Of Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Background: Regulatory T cells (Treg) play important roles in onset of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and chronic GVHD (cGVHD) in elderly people is more frequent than in younger people after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). However, little is known about the differences in the number and function of Treg and natural killer (NK) cells in elderly and young patients. In this study, we examined the cause of the difference in incidences of cGVHD in these patient populations by measuring Treg and NK cells over time after HCT.