2000 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 62-68
The chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) reaction is known as one of the most serious complications following allogeneic bone marrow plantation (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT), and it is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing allogeneic transplantation. A lip biopsy specimen helps in making a more definitive diagnosis in the early stage of cGVHD, because histological findings in lip mucosa and labial salivary gland appear to reflect the early status of cGVHD better than other organs involved. In this study, we analyzed, immunohistochemically, oral biopsy specimens from four patients who had received allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Pathologic findings of oral mucosa and labial salivary glands were valuable in early recognition and follow-up of cGVHD. The results of TUNEL staining suggested that cell-to-cell contact-mediated apoptosis occurred in the oral epithelium and epithelial duct cells in the labial salivary gland of cGVHD.
