Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for the Treatment of Severe Acute Gut Graft-Versus-Host Disease

This phase I trial studies the side effects of using an investigational procedure (fecal microbiota transplantation \[FMT\]) in treating patients with severe acute gut graft-versus-host-disease. The purpose of a fecal microbiota transplantation is to use feces from a healthy human donor to replace the abnormal gut bacteria in the recipient. One of the side effects of a stem cell transplant is the development of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in several organs including gut. GvHD is caused by the donated bone marrow or peripheral blood cells recognizing the recipient's body as foreign and attacking it. Acute gut GvHD is one of the leading causes of death after transplant. Recently, studies have shown that patients with reduced intestinal bacterial diversity in their stool during acute gut GvHD have higher overall mortality rates. The information learned from this study may offer FMT as a promising therapy for the treatment of severe acute gut graft-versus-host-disease.