Roni Shouval, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, talks on the occurrence and origins of bloodstream infections following fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD). Whilst most preliminary studies that have evaluated FMT for the treatment of GvHD have reported positive safety results, there is a growing concern over the risk of bloodstream infections following this intervention. A recent study exploring the origins of bloodstream infections in 22 patients treated with FMT did not detect offending bacterial strains in any of the FMT donations. Whilst these findings support the safety of FMT in immunocompromised patients with GvHD, it is still possible that FMT induces bacterial translocation through indirect mechanisms. This interview took place at the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) 2022, which was held virtually.
