Extracorporeal photopheresis for the treatment of steroid refractory acute GVHD

Abstract Acute GVHD is an important complication following hematopoeitic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), with significant attendant morbidity and mortality. High dose steroids remain the cornerstone of therapy. Steroid refractory GVHD carries a very poor prognosis. Various therapies are available for steroid refractory acute GVHD, but response is not uniform. Among the less intensive regimens, extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) and rituximab, a chimeric humanized anti CD 20 monoclonal antibody have been shown to be useful in treating refractory acute and chronic GVHD. We describe 8 patients who developed GVHD following transplantation of HLA-identical stem cells, from siblings in 7 and from an unrelated donor in one. 2 patients had steroid refractory chronic GVHD of the liver, 3 patients had a refractory chronic GVHD of the skin and one had a steroid responsive restrictive pulmonary syndrome. Of the patients with skin GVHD, 2 had chronic scelrodermatous GVHD, which was of 20 years duration in one patient and 8 in the other. 2 patients had acute GVHD of the GI tract. The age range was 21– 53 years. All patients were in complete remission from their primary disease at the time of therapy for GVHD. 3 patients had a diagnosis of acute lymphoblasitc leukemia and 5 acute myeloid leukemia All had failed treatment with high dose steroids and/or tacrolimus and/or cellcept, and, one had also failed ATG therapy. Then therapy for refractory GVHD was initiated with rituximab in 3 patients and with photopheresis in 5. 7 patients received ECP. One patient with refractory chronic GVHD of the liver received rituximab alone in addition of steroids and tacrolimus. The patients with acute GVHD were treated with daily ECP for 10 days and then were weaned down to two procedures every 2 weeks. Patients with chronic GVHD received ECP 2 to 3 times a week for 6 weeks and were subsequently similarly weaned down. In the patients with acute GVHD of the GI tract complete responses occurred at 10 days in one patient and 45 days in the second as determined by complete cessation of diarrhea, cramps and nausea. Both patients with chronic GVHD of the liver achieved normalization of the serum bilirubin by 26 and 38 days after initiation of therapy. All patients tolerated successful taper of steroid therapy. The two patients with sclerodermatous GVHD have shown marked improvement in skin texture and range of motion at the involved joints. The patient with the pulmonary symptoms has shown complete normalization of pulmonary function. 5 patients were at risk of CMV reactivation, but failed to do so. One patient developed BK virus associated hemorrhagic cystitis that required therapy with cidofovir. There were 3 admissions for neutropenic fever, three for pneumonia and one each for gastroenteritis, HSV gingivostomatitis and line related sepsis. Two patients had line related thrombosis. None of the patients had relapse of their disease. 2 of the responders had an ECOG performance status 2, two of 3, one of 4 and four of </= 1 while being treated. All patients demonstrated improvement in functional status. ECP and rituximab is a well tolerated and effective modality for therapy of steroid refractory chronic and acute GVHD in both related and unrelated marrow stem cell transplant recipients.

Download Full-text

Infliximab for the Treatment of Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease.

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v108.11.2889.2889 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 108 (11) ◽

pp. 2889-2889

Author(s):

Ethan Tolbert ◽

Ned Waller ◽

H. Jean Khoury ◽

Mary Jo Lechowicz ◽

Christopher Flowers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stem Cell ◽

Median Survival ◽

Graft Versus Host Disease ◽

Acute Gvhd ◽

Response Rate ◽

The Other ◽

Host Disease ◽

Graft Versus Host ◽

Tnf Α ◽

Steroid Refractory

Abstract Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) remains the major cause of late morbidity and non relapse mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of GVHD. Infliximab is a murine-human chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds TNF-α, preventing interaction with its receptor and its ability to mediate the development of GVHD. Infliximab is active in the treatment of steroid refractory acute GVHD, particularly for patients with GI GVHD (Couriel et al Blood. 2004 Aug 1;104(3):649–54).We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the activity of infliximab in 22 patients with AML/MDS (n=5), lymphoma (n=8), ALL (n=3), and others (n=6) with steroid refractory chronic extensive GVHD. Response was measured according to standard response criteria (Pavletic et al. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2006 Mar;12(3):252–66). The median age of the patients was 50 years (range 20 – 64). Fourteen (64%) patients had matched sibling donors, 8 (36%) had matched unrelated donors, 9 (41%) underwent nonmyeloablative conditioning, one patient had a bone marrow transplant and the other 21 patients had peripheral blood stem cell transplants. All patients were given standard doses of tacrolimus or cyclosporine for GVHD prophylaxis with either short course methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil. All patients were treated with systemic steroids at the onset of GVHD. Fifty percent of the patients initially presented with acute GVHD that progressed to chronic extensive GVHD. The other half presented with late onset or de novo chronic extensive GVHD. Nineteen had skin involvement (86%), 15 (68%) had gastrointestinal involvement, and 10 (45%) had liver involvement at the time of treatment with infliximab. All patients were considered refractory to tacrolimus/cyclosporine and systemic steroids, had intolerable side effects from steroids or could not be successfully tapered off steroids prior to infliximab administration. Median time from transplant to infliximab administration was 337days (range 122 to 932 days). The patients received a median of 4 weekly courses (range 1–20 courses) of infliximab at 10mg/kg. The overall response rate was 64% (n=14); 11 (50%) experienced a complete response (CR); 3 (14%) experienced a partial response (PR); 8 (36%) had progressive GVHD. The response rate for skin GVHD was 68%, GI was 60% and liver was 50%. One patient suffered an acute infusion reaction after the first infliximab dose and had no further drug administered. Median survival of all patients following initiation of infliximab was 223 days. Median survival of all responders was 625 days after infliximab, while median survival of the non-responders was 70 days after infliximab. Six patients remain alive at a median follow-up of 55 months (27%). Three of six survivors are on minimal immunosuppression with limited cGVHD and three are off all immunosuppression with no evidence of cGVHD. Of the patients who died, 7 (32%) died from infectious complications, 5 (23%) died from complications of progressive cGVHD, 4 (18%) died from hemorrhagic or embolic strokes, 2 died from complications of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), and one patient from relapse. In conclusion, infliximab has activity for cGVHD. Prospective trials investigating the activity of infliximab, the infectious risks, predictive measures responding patients and optimal timing of administration are needed.

Download Full-text