Low‐dose thymoglobulin for prevention of chronic graft‐versus‐host disease in transplantation from an HLA‐matched sibling donor

Despite the proven efficacy of anti‐T‐cell or antithymocyte globulin (ATG) for chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) prevention in transplantation from an unrelated donor, dosing protocols and the effects of ATG on relapse and infection remain controversial. In the setting of transplantation from an HLA‐matched sibling (MSD‐T), few randomized studies have been conducted. We conducted a prospective, single‐center, open‐label, randomized study of low‐dose thymoglobulin (2.5 mg/kg) for chronic GVHD prevention. A total of 120 patients with acute leukemia were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio. After a median follow‐up of 27 months, the cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD in the ATG and non‐ATG groups was 25.0% and 65.4% (p