title: Successful use of extracorporeal photochemotherapy in the treatment of severe acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease.
abstract: Extracorporeal exposure of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to the photosensitizing compound 8-methoxypsoralen and ultraviolet A radiation has been shown to be effective in the treatment of several T-cell-mediated diseases, including cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and rejection after organ transplantation. We present 21 patients (10 men and 11 women) with hematological malignancies with a median age of 36 years (range, 25 to 55 years) who had received marrow grafts from sibling (n = 12) or unrelated (n = 9) donors. Six patients had acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade II to III not responding to cyclosporine A (CSA) and prednisolone when referred to extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP). In 15 patients, 2 to 24 months after bone marrow transplantation (BMT), extensive chronic GVHD with involvement of skin (n = 15), liver (n = 10), oral mucosa (n = 11), ocular glands (n = 6), and thrombocytopenia (n = 3) developed and was unresponsive to conventional therapy, including steroids. All patients were treated with ECP on 2 consecutive days every 2 weeks for the first 3 months and thereafter every 4 weeks until resolution of GVHD. ECP was tolerated excellently without any significant side effects. After a median of 14 cycles of ECP, acute GVHD resolved completely in 4 of 6 patients (67%) and partially in another 2 patients. Cutaneous chronic GVHD completely resolved in 12 of 15 (80%) patients. Contractures of knees and elbows due to scleroderma resolved partially. Oral mucosal ulcerations resolved in all patients. Seven of 10 patients (70%) with liver involvement had complete responses after ECP. After discontinuation of ECP, no severe infections were observed. Our findings suggest that ECP is a safe and effective adjunct therapy for both acute and extensive chronic GVHD with skin and visceral involvement and resistance to conventional therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I, Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Greinix
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Volc-Platzer
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rabitsch
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gmeinhart
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guevara-Pineda
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kalhs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krutmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hönigsmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciovica
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Knobler
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000628:therapy; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017893:Photopheresis; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome