Late complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers the opportunity for cure to patients with leukemia lymphoma and severe non-malignant diseases More than 40,000 HSCTs are performed annually worldwide Therefore the number of long-term survivors free of the disease for which they were transplanted is continuously increasing Despite the improved prognosis of HSCT, long-term outcome may be impaired by transplant associated morbidity and mortality Long-term survivors can present a variety of malignant and non-malignant complications, impairing physical and psychological performance, normal integration in family and social life, and quality of life Conditioning regimens, particularly when including total-body irradiation as well as graft-versus-host disease, play a key role in the development of late effects However with increasing time since transplantation new types of late effects may emerge Awareness on long-term effects after HSCT is crucial to provide adapted pretransplant counseling and recommendations for post-transplant screening, prevention and early treatment.