Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) to treat chronic GVHD induced complete or partial responses in 50% of transplant recipients in an intention-to-treat-analysis of 38 patients with moderate to severe GVHD. Researchers evaluated ECP effectiveness in the 27 out of 38 patients who completed biweekly ECP treatments for six months and found that 19 out of the 27 (70%) had a complete or partial response. Eighty percent of these patients also experienced a reduction in immunosuppression dose at six months. A subset of 18 patients completed quality of life (QoL) questionnaires, and 17 of 18 patients (94%) showed a significant reduction in chronic GVHD symptom scale scores after six months of ECP: 36 at day 0 vs. 22 at six months; (p=0.012).
Dignan FL, et al. Bone Marrow TransplantExtracorporeal Photopheresis Induces Responses in Chronic GVHD
Mar 2014