Narrowband UV-B phototherapy in the treatment of cutaneous graft versus host disease.
Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is an important problem following allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The beneficial effects of photochemotherapy with psoralens plus UVA irradiation (PUVA) have been described repeatedly; however, PUVA is limited by a wide range of unwanted effects. A novel improved form of UV-B phototherapy, narrowband UV-B, has been proven to be very effective in T-cell mediated dermatoses. Therefore, we investigated the effect of narrowband UV-B phototherapy (5 times per week) in 10 patients with cutaneous GVHD (grade 2-3) resistant to standard immunosuppressive drugs. It was tolerated well by all patients, and no side effects were observed. Skin lesions showed complete clearance in 7 out of 10 patients within 3 to 5 weeks. 3 patients showed significant improvement of GVHD. We suggest that narrowband UV-B phototherapy is a nonaggressive treatment that may benefit patients with cutaneous GVHD who already take high doses of immunosuppressive drugs.
Grundmann-Kollmann
Marcella
M
Department of Dermatology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany.
Martin
Hans
H
Ludwig
Ralf
R
Klein
Stefan
S
Boehncke
Wolf-Henning
WH
Hoelzer
Dieter
D
Kaufmann
Roland
R
Podda
Maurizio
M
D000328:Adult; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014467:Ultraviolet Therapy / Q000379:methods*
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents