title: Methotrexate for the Treatment of Graft-versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
abstract: Glucocorticoids have been the primary treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) over the past decade. Complete responses to steroid therapy are usually expected in almost one-third of aGVHD cases and partial response is anticipated in another one-third of patients. However, for those patients not responding to corticosteroid treatment, there is no standard second-line therapy for acute or chronic GVHD. Methotrexate (MTX) for treatment of steroid refractory GVHD has been evaluated in a number of studies. Results from peer-reviewed original articles were identified and the pooled data analyzed. Despite several limitations in data collection and analysis, weekly administration of methotrexate at a median dose of 7.5 mg/m(2) seems to be safe with minimal toxicities in the context of both aGVHD and cGVHD treatments. The observed overall response (OR) in patients with aGVHD to MTX treatment in the published studies was 69.9%, with complete response (CR) in 59.2% and PR in 10.6%. In cGVHD the OR was 77.6%, with CR reported in 49.6% and PR in 28% of patients. Predictors of better responses were lower grade GVHD, cutaneous involvement, and isolated organ involvement. MTX as a steroid sparing agent might reduce long-term complications and improve the quality of life of GVHD affected individuals.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center, Tahrir Street, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Amr
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3998-330X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nassar
authors.affiliation: Adult HSCT Program, Ain Shams University Hospitals, P.O. Box 1156, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ghada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elgohary
authors.affiliation: Adult HSCT Program, Oncology Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, P.O. Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Tusneem
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1625-1168
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elhassan
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Care Division, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, P.O. BOX 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Zubeir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nurgat
authors.affiliation: Adult HSCT Program, Ain Shams University Hospitals, P.O. Box 1156, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Said Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.affiliation: Adult HSCT Program, Oncology Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, P.O. Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aljurf