Chronic GVHD after steroid-sensitive, -dependent, and -refractory acute GVHD: incidence and clinical outcomes.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a major limitation to the long-term success of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). Our prior study of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) defined distinct treatment-response groups based on response to first-line corticosteroids: steroid-sensitive (SS), steroid-resistant (SR), and steroid-dependent (SD) aGVHD. We conducted a retrospective, single-institution, cohort study to assess the incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of patients with cGVHD after a previous diagnosis of SS, SD, or SR aGVHD compared to those with no history of aGVHD. Among 784 consecutive adult and pediatric HCT recipients for hematologic malignancies between 2008 and 2016, 347 (44%) developed aGVHD with 13% SS, 12% SD, and 19% SR aGVHD. 3-year cumulative incidence of cGVHD was 25%. Among those with cGVHD, 39% had no prior aGVHD diagnosis, while those with a prior aGVHD diagnosis, 16% had SS, 24% had SD, and 21% had SR aGVHD. Mild or moderate cGVHD was highest among those with preceding SD aGVHD, while severe cGVHD was most frequent among those with previous SR aGVHD. We identified SD acute GVHD and SR acute GVHD as independent significant risk factors for development of chronic GVHD after allogeneic HCT, whereas SS acute GVHD is not a risk factor. Our study demonstrates that cGVHD after SD aGVHD did not have an intermediate prognosis between SR and SS groups as hypothesized, rather chronic GVHD following both SD and SR acute GVHD have similar prognosis. Our findings suggest that previous aGVHD response states are important predictors of cGVHD severity and outcomes.