Steroid Refractory Acute and Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) - Response to Photophoresis+/− Rituximab.
Authors: Parameswaran Ramakrishnan , Sekeramayi Maggie , McCaul Kelly , Bradfeldt Bill 
Published: April 2020

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 &lt;/= 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.