title: Cyclosporine or cyclosporine plus methylprednisolone for prophylaxis of graft-versus-host disease: a prospective, randomized trial.
abstract: Patients with a lymphohematopoietic malignancy considered to be at high risk for posttransplant relapse were enrolled in a study to compare the use of cyclosporine (CSP) as a single agent with a combination of methylprednisolone (MP) and CSP for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis after marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor. Sixty patients were randomized to receive CSP only and 62 were randomized to receive CSP plus MP. Daily CSP was started on day -1 (5 mg/kg/d intravenously) and administered at gradually reduced doses until day 180. MP was started on day 7 at 0.5 mg/kg/d, increased to 1.0 mg/kg/d on day 15, started on a taper schedule on day 29, and discontinued on day 72. All 104 evaluable patients (surviving > or =28 days) had sustained engraftment. The incidence rates of grades II-IV acute GVHD were 73% and 60% for patients receiving CSP and CSP plus MP, respectively (P = .01). No difference was seen for grades III-IV GVHD. However, chronic GVHD occurred somewhat more frequently in patients receiving CSP plus MP (44%) than in patients receiving only CSP (21%; P = .02). The incidence of de novo chronic GVHD was marginally higher in patients receiving CSP plus MP (P = .08). No significant differences in the risk of infections were observed. There was a suggestion that the risk of relapse was lower in patients receiving CSP plus MP (P = .10) and, although the overall survival in the two groups was not different (P = .44), there was a slight advantage in favor of CSP plus MP-treated patients for relapse-free survival (P = .07). These results suggest that prophylactic MP, when combined with CSP, has only limited efficacy in acute GVHD prevention and may increase the probability of chronic GVHD.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle 98104-2092, USA.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Deeg
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Leisenring
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boeckh
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anasetti
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Appelbaum
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Chauncey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Doney
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flowers
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schoch
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Witherspoon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Storb
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D008775:Methylprednisolone