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Post-Transplant Events

Efficacy of folinic acid in preventing oral mucositis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients receiving MTX as prophylaxis for GVHD

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 47, pages 258–264 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

As the safety of folinic acid administration and its efficacy for reducing the toxicity of MTX remain controversial, we assessed the effect of folinic acid administration after MTX treatment for GVHD prophylaxis on the incidence of oral mucositis and acute GVHD. We retrospectively analyzed data for 118 patients who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic SCT and had received MTX for GVHD prophylaxis. Multivariate analysis showed that systemic folinic acid administration significantly reduced the incidence of severe oral mucositis (odds ratio (OR)=0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04–0.73, P=0.014). There was also a tendency for a lower incidence of severe oral mucositis in patients who received folinic acid mouthwash (OR=0.39, 95%CI 0.15–1.00, P=0.051). No significant difference was observed in the incidence of acute GVHD between patients who received systemic folinic acid administration and those who did not (P=0.88). Systemic folinic acid administration and mouthwash appear to be useful for reducing the incidence of severe oral mucositis in patients who have received allogeneic hematopoietic SCT using MTX as GVHD prophylaxis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms M Yamane, Ms M Mayanagi and Ms Y Ishimaru for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stem Cell Transplantation Center, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan

    J Sugita, M Kosugi, S Takahashi, K Wakasa, S Shiratori, M Ibata, Y Shono, A Shigematsu, M Obara, K Fujimoto, T Endo, M Nishio, T Kondo, S Hashino, J Tanaka & M Imamura

  2. Center for Dental Clinics, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan

    T Matsushita & H Kashiwazaki

  3. Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    M Asaka

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  1. J Sugita
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Correspondence to J Sugita.

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Sugita, J., Matsushita, T., Kashiwazaki, H. et al. Efficacy of folinic acid in preventing oral mucositis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients receiving MTX as prophylaxis for GVHD. Bone Marrow Transplant 47, 258–264 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2011.53

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2011.53

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