title: Management of chronic graft-versus-host disease.
abstract: Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an immune-mediated disorder that adversely affects quality of life and clinical outcomes in patients following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Conventional treatment of GVHD includes prolonged and high-dose corticosteroids; however, those drugs are associated with multiple side effects. This article describes the ability of extracorporeal photopheresis therapy to exhibit a steroid-sparing effect, which can reduce long-term complications as a consequence of steroid treatment.
authors.affiliation: Adult Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation Program, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey, USA. mbaker@humed.com
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McKiernan
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D017893:Photopheresis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones