Defining the Standard: Understanding the 2014 NIH Chronic GVHD Diagnosis and Staging Report
📖 Episode Description:
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the landmark 2014 NIH Consensus Report on chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD)—the gold standard for diagnosing and staging cGVHD today. Whether you’re a patient, caregiver, or clinician preparing for the upcoming Engraft Learning Network design session, this episode will help you understand why this report is so important for early screening, better treatments, and improved long-term outcomes.
You’ll learn:
Why diagnosing cGVHD is so challenging—with no single blood test or biomarker to confirm it.
How the 2014 report refined and clarified the earlier 2005 criteria, leading to more precise diagnosis and staging.
Key changes introduced, including updated definitions for overlap syndrome, improved diagnostic guidelines for specific organs (mouth, eyes, lungs, genitalia), and a more sensitive approach to diagnosing serious lung complications like bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS).
How organ severity scoring was updated, helping doctors better assess the extent and seriousness of cGVHD across the body.
Why this standardized framework is essential for research and clinical trials, ensuring consistent diagnosis and measurement across centers worldwide.
Where the limitations remain, including the need for better tools to distinguish active disease from long-term damage and the ongoing search for reliable early biomarkers.