title: Immunosuppressive therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome: efficacy of methylprednisolone pulse therapy with or without cyclosporin A.
abstract: We investigated whether immunosuppressive therapy using methylprednisolone (mPSL) with or without cyclosporin A (CsA) could benefit patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Eligibility criteria for this study were a clinical diagnosis of MDS with less than 5% blast in peripheral blood, less than 10% blast in bone marrow and advanced cytopenia. Among 73 patients with MDS, 18 eligible and consecutive patients (8 men and 10 women), aged 48 to 87 years (median: 66.5 years) were assigned to receive mPSL pulse therapy (1,000 mg daily for 3 consecutive days, followed by tapering oral prednisolone; n= 12) or mPSL pulse with CsA therapy (4 to 5 mg/kg administered twice daily; n= 6). Six of 18 patients (33.3%; 3 of 10 patients with RA, 2 of 6 patients with RAEB, 1 of 2 patients with CMMoL) responded to immunosuppressive therapy. Four patients responded to mPSL pulse alone, and two patients responded to mPSL pulse with CsA. One of 6 patients with hypocellular bone marrow and 5 of 12 patients with normocellular or hypercellular marrow responded to immunosuppressive therapy. No patient with myelofibrosis responded to the therapy. The duration of response ranged from 4 to 59 months (median: 14 months). Although a significant difference was observed between responders and nonresponders in the survival rate ( P<0.05), no significant difference was found in clinical characteristics at entry between responders and nonresponders. In responders, mean hemoglobin levels were significantly increased ( P<0.01), and the required red cell transfusion dose was significantly reduced ( P<0.01). It is possible that immunosuppressive therapy might be effective for a certain subset of patients with MDS.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Gifu University School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, 500-8705, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsurumi
authors.forename: Senji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: Hisataka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moriwaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D020551:Pulse Therapy, Drug; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D008775:Methylprednisolone