%0 Journal Article
%T Methotrexate for the Treatment of Graft-versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
%A Amr Nassar
%A Ghada Elgohary
%A Tusneem Elhassan
%A Zubeir Nurgat
%A Said Y. Mohamed
%A Mahmoud Aljurf
%J Journal of Transplantation
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/980301
%X 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/m2 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. 1. Introduction Use of allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) as a therapeutic option for otherwise lethal diseases is continuously increasing [1]. However, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains a major complication of allo-SCT, affecting up to 40¨C60% of allo-SCT patients [2]. GVHD occurs when immune competent cells, namely, T-lymphocytes, recognize membrane antigens on the donor cells. These membrane antigens include a set of host polypeptides such as major and minor histocompatibility antigens displayed by the human leukocyte antigen system. The polymorphism of these polypeptides triggers T-cell activation and ultimately tissue injury through a variety of cellular effector mechanisms. The activation of the donor immune cells is augmented also by cytokines released from the site of tissue injury associated with the intense conditioning regimen (cytokine storm) [3]. Acute GVHD (aGVHD) usually occurs in the first 100 days after transplantation, whereas onset of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) is observed later. Changes in the onset period of both acute and chronic GVHDs have been observed, with acute cases occurring 100 days after transplantation and chronic cases noticed earlier than usual. These changes from traditional patterns of acute and chronic GVHD were observed
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jtrans/2014/980301/