Weekly rituximab followed by monthly rituximab treatment for steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease: results from a prospective, multicenter, phase II study

Abstract Abstract 1151 Poster Board I-173 Introduction The mainstay of treatment for chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is steroid. However, there is limited treatment option for steroid-refractory chronic GVHD. Although the pathogenesis of chronic GVHD is still uncertain, the possible relation of auto-antibodies with chronic GVHD (Patriarca F, et al. Exp Hematol 389-96, 2006) and the result from a previous pilot study (Cutler C, et al. Blood 756-762, 2006) suggested that a treatment strategy targeting against B cells might become another effective therapy for chronic GVHD. Thus, we performed a study to determine the efficacy of rituximab (Mabthera®, Roche), an anti-CD20 monoclonal chimeric antibody in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD. Patients and methods This is a multicenter, open-labeled prospective phase II study performed by the Korean Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (NCT00472225). Patients should be diagnosed as chronic GVHD according to the criteria for clinical trials in chronic GVHD proposed by National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project (Filipovich AH, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 945-56, 2005). The steroid-refractoriness was defined as the same severity during the last one month while patients received the equivalent of prednisone ≥0.5mg/kg per day or 1mg/kg every other day at least for 30 days or longer. The treatment schedule consists of induction (rituximab 375mg/m2 weekly IV for 4 consecutive weeks) and maintenance (rituximab 375mg/m2 monthly IV for 4 consecutive months). The response and the quality of life (SF36 questionnaire) were evaluated during the follow-up. Results 37 patients (20 male, 17 female) were evaluated, and their median age was 29 years (range 8-57 years, 7 patients from pediatrics and 30 from internal medicine). The time interval between transplantation and rituximab treatment was from 4.0 to 45.7 months. The most commonly involved organs were skin, oral cavity, eyes and lungs. The average number of involved organ per each patient was three and their average severity was grade 2-3. The median potential follow-up was 12.3 months (95% confidence interval: 12.06-12.54 months). The maximum response during follow-up was as follows: 8 complete response (21.6%), 22 partial response (59.5%), 6 no response (16.2%), and 1 disease progression (2.7%). Thus, the overall response rate was 81.1%. The dosage of steroid was reduced in all responders including complete withdrawal of steroid. The quality of life was improved in terms of physical health and mental/emotional health after treatment. However, 5 responders showed the progression of disease activity during follow-up, and infectious complications were life-threatening, thus, 8 patients died due to infections including pneumonia. The involvement of skin and oral cavity showed better response than the involvement of lungs and eyes. Conclusion The weekly administration of rituximab followed by monthly maintenance rituximab may be an effective treatment for steroid-refractory chronic GVHD, however, the active prophylaxis against infection should be considered. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for the Prophylaxis of Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease—A Phase II Study

Stem Cells International ◽

10.1155/2012/968213 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 69

Author(s):

Larisa A. Kuzmina ◽

Natalia A. Petinati ◽

Elena N. Parovichnikova ◽

Lidia S. Lubimova ◽

Elena O. Gribanova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phase Ii ◽

Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ◽

Graft Versus Host Disease ◽

Stromal Cells ◽

Phase Ii Study ◽

Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ◽

Host Disease ◽

Graft Versus Host ◽

Acute Graft

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Extended CCR5 Blockade in Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis – a Phase II Study

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v124.21.2491.2491 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 124 (21) ◽

pp. 2491-2491 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ran Reshef ◽

James K. Mangan ◽

Selina M. Luger ◽

Alison Wakoff Loren ◽

Elizabeth O. Hexner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phase Ii ◽

Graft Versus Host Disease ◽

Cumulative Incidence ◽

Acute Gvhd ◽

Phase Ii Study ◽

Host Disease ◽

Graft Versus Host ◽

Grade 3 ◽

Ccr5 Blockade

Abstract Background: Blocking lymphocyte trafficking after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) may prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) without interfering with graft-versus-tumor (GvT) activity. We previously reported that brief (up to day+30) CCR5 blockade using maraviroc (MVC, Pfizer) after reduced-intensity conditioned (RIC) alloSCT resulted in a low incidence of acute GvHD and absence of early liver and gut GvHD, although delayed GvHD still occurred. We designed a phase II study to test the hypothesis that extended administration of MVC would be feasible, safe and provide protection against late-onset GvHD without impairing immune reconstitution or GvT responses. Patients and Methods: In April 2013 we initiated a 37-patient (pt) phase II study to test an extended course of MVC in recipients of RIC alloSCT from unrelated donors. Pts receive fludarabine 120 mg/m2 and busulfan i.v. 6.4 mg/kg followed by peripheral blood stem cells. MVC 300 mg b.i.d. is orally administered from day -3 to day +90 in addition to standard prophylaxis with tacrolimus and methotrexate. The primary endpoint is the cumulative incidence of grade 2-4 acute GvHD by day 180. As of July 2014 we enrolled 20 pts at high risk for transplant-related toxicity by virtue of age (median=64, range 55–72), donor source (matched unrelated 80%, single-antigen mismatch unrelated 20%) or comorbidities (comorbidity index: low 15%, intermediate 35%, high 50%). Underlying diseases were AML (16), MDS, MPD, ALL and CTCL (1 each). Feasibility and Safety: The median follow-up on surviving patients is 5.7 months. The 3-month course of MVC was well tolerated with no increased toxicity; two pts did not complete their treatment due to early disease relapse and one patient discontinued therapy due to a skin reaction with eosinophilia where the histological features favored a drug reaction and the attribution to MVC was possible. Postural hypotension, a known dose-dependent toxicity, was observed in one pt who completed the course with a 50% dose reduction. Engraftment and Immune Reconstitution: The median time to ANC>500/μL was 12 d (range 10-21) and platelets>20k/μL was 14 d (range 9-28). The median whole blood and T-cell donor chimerism levels at day 100 were 95% (range 12–100%) and 80% (range 23–94%) respectively, which are similar to historical rates. Median CD4 counts on day 30 were 341 (range 206-424). Only 3/16 evaluable pts had Ig levels<500 mg/dL in the first 100 days. GvHD: Sixteen pts are evaluable with > 3 mo of follow-up. The day-180 cumulative incidence rates (± s.e.) of grade 2-4 and grade 3-4 acute GvHD are 25 ± 11% and 6 ± 6% respectively (Fig. 1). Of patients who developed acute GvHD in the first 180 days, there have been no cases of liver GvHD, 2 cases of stage 1 steroid-responsive gut GvHD and 1 case of severe diarrhea with combined features of GvHD and leukemic infiltrates in the gut. These results are comparable to the GvHD rates in our phase I/II MVC study (grade 2-4: 23.6% and grade 3-4: 5.9%), which included related and unrelated donor transplants. These results also compare favorably with a 45% day-180 acute GvHD rate seen in similar patients treated with our standard GvHD prophylaxis alone. Notably, there has been no treatment-related mortality. Five patients have relapsed at a median of 2.6 months post-transplant (range 0.93 – 3.5), which is similar to our historical rates after RIC alloSCT. PD analysis: We developed a phosphoflow assay to assess in real-time the activity of MVC in fresh blood samples. The assay quantifies the activation of CCR5 by measuring the phosphorylation of C-terminal serine residues as a result of CCL4 stimulation. In 15 evaluable patients, we observed diminished pCCR5 levels with CCL4 stimulation on day 0 as compared to day -6 (Fig. 2). In summary, our preliminary results support the feasibility, safety and protective activity of the CCR5 antagonist MVC against acute GvHD, with preferential activity against visceral GvHD. Continued pt enrollment and follow-up are ongoing. Updated safety, efficacy and PD results will be presented. A multi-center study (BMT-CTN 1203) will be initiated later this year to further clarify the role of this novel strategy in improving the outcome of alloHSCT. Fig 1. Cumulative Incidence of Acute GvHD Fig 1. Cumulative Incidence of Acute GvHD Fig 2. Phosphoflow shows CCR5 unresponsiveness to CCL4 stimulation on day 0 Fig 2. Phosphoflow shows CCR5 unresponsiveness to CCL4 stimulation on day 0 Disclosures Reshef: Pfizer: Research Funding. Off Label Use: Maraviroc for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis.

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