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Ruxolitinib in steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease: experience of a single center

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 53, pages 503–506 (2018)Cite this article

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Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) represents a major complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation [1]. Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) is a significant cause of morbidity, increased risk of infection, and reduced quality of life (QOL) after transplant, affecting ~40% of patients. First-line systemic therapy consists of systemic corticosteroids, and response rates are variable. Second- and further-line options for treatment of steroid-refractory cGVHD are needed in 40–60% of cases, and most of the therapies available are less than ideal, with low response rates and significant toxicities [2]. The skin is the most commonly affected site (75%) [3, 4]. Cutaneous manifestations have a broad clinical spectrum, including lichen planus-like eruption, scleroderma, xerosis and ichthyosis, poikiloderma, dyspigmentation, acral erythema, keratosis pilaris-like and papulosquamous eruptions, and psoriasiform and eczematous eruptions [3, 4]. Although there are still no randomized studies demonstrating its efficacy, ruxolitinib, a JAK1/2 inhibitor, appears to be a promising therapy for GVHD, as reported in a few reports with a small number of patients [5,6,7,8]. Its mechanism of action seems to be related to suppression of the proinflammatory signaling that mediates tissue damage and by the promotion of tolerogenic regulatory T (T-reg) cells [9].

In this report, we share a real-life experience using ruxolitinib in the treatment of steroid-refractory cGVHD in 20 patients from a single center in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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All authors contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bone Marrow Transplant, Hospital Sirio Libanes, São Paulo, Brazil

    Aliana Meneses Ferreira, Carolina Atallah Pontes da Silva, André Domingues Pereira, Roberta Shcolnik Szor, Ana Rita Brito Medeiros da Fonseca, Mariana Gomes Serpa, Erick Menezes Xavier, Michelly Kerly Sampaio de Melo, Yana Novis, Luciana Tucunduva, Vanderson Rocha & Celso Arrais-Rodrigues

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  1. Aliana Meneses Ferreira
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  2. Carolina Atallah Pontes da Silva
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Correspondence to Aliana Meneses Ferreira.

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Ferreira, A.M., Pontes da Silva, C.A., Pereira, A.D. et al. Ruxolitinib in steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease: experience of a single center. Bone Marrow Transplant 53, 503–506 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-017-0068-2

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