Cyclosporine as an alternative to cyclophosphamide in the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease.
Four patients with progressive extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease or dose-limiting toxicity on conventional therapy (cyclophosphamide + prednisolone) were treated with a regimen of cyclosporine + prednisolone as induction therapy and cyclosporine as maintenance therapy. All 4 showed clinical improvement and 3 of 4 are alive at 9 months. The incidence of infections was not affected by this regimen, but steroid requirements were reduced.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000628:therapy; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003524:Cyclosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male
D003524:Cyclosporins; D003520:Cyclophosphamide