title: Extracorporeal photopheresis: past, present, and future.
abstract: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is a leukapheresis-based therapy that uses 8-methoxypsoralen and ultraviolet A irradiation. Used alone or in combination with biological agents, ECP is an established and effective therapy for advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. ECP has also shown promising efficacy in a number of other severe and difficult-to-treat conditions, including systemic sclerosis, graft-versus-host disease, prevention and treatment of rejection in solid organ transplantation, and Crohn disease. Furthermore, the use of ECP in some of these conditions may allow a significant reduction in the use of systemic steroids and other immunosuppressants, reducing long-term morbidity and mortality. The accumulated experience shows ECP to be well tolerated, with no clinically significant side effects. Progress is also being made in the search for understanding of the mechanisms of action of ECP, which will ultimately facilitate improvements in the use of this therapy.
authors: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. robert.knobler@meduniwien.ac.at
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Knobler
authors: Mark L
authors: ML
authors: Barr
authors: Daniel R
authors: DR
authors: Couriel
authors: James L M
authors: JL
authors: Ferrara
authors: Lars E
authors: LE
authors: French
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Jaksch
authors: Walter
authors: W
authors: Reinisch
authors: Alain H
authors: AH
authors: Rook
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Schwarz
authors: Hildegard
authors: H
authors: Greinix
mesh_terms: D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017893:Photopheresis / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*