Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Volume 15, Issue 9 , Pages 1005-1013 , September 2009

Efficacy of Rituximab in the Setting of Steroid-Refractory Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  • Mohamed A. Kharfan-Dabaja

      Affiliations

    • Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • Department of Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • ,
  • Asmita R. Mhaskar

      Affiliations

    • Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • ,
  • Benjamin Djulbegovic

      Affiliations

    • Department of Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida
    • ,
  • Corey Cutler

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Mohamad Mohty

      Affiliations

    • Hematology Clinic, Hospital Center of the University of Nantes, Nantes, France
    • ,
  • Ambuj Kumar

      Affiliations

    • Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
    • Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence and reprint requests: Ambuj Kumar, MD, MPH, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12902 Magnolia Drive, MRC 232A, Tampa, FL 33612.

Received 25 February 2009 ,Accepted 6 April 2009.

References 

  1. Karanes C, Nelson GO, Chitphakdithai P, et al. Twenty years of unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation for adult recipients facilitated by the National Marrow Donor Program. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008;14:8–15
  2. MacMillan ML, Davies SM, Nelson GO, et al. Twenty years of unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation for pediatric acute leukemia facilitated by the National Marrow Donor Program. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008;14:16–22
  3. Stem Cell Trialists' Collaborative Group Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell compared with bone marrow transplantation in the management of hematologic malignancies: an individual patient data meta-analysis of nine randomized trials. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23:5074–5087
  4. Filipovich AH, Weisdorf D, Pavletic S, et al. National Institutes of Health consensus development project on criteria for clinical trials in chronic graft-versus-host disease, I: Diagnosis and Staging Working Group report. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2005;11:945–956
  5. Pavletic SZ, Martin P, Lee SJ, et al. Measuring therapeutic response in chronic graft-versus-host disease. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease, IV: Response Criteria Working Group report. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2006;12:252–266
  6. Lee SJ, Vogelsang G, Flowers ME. Chronic graft-versus-host disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2003;9:215–233
  7. Couriel D, Hosing C, Saliba R, et al. Extracorporeal photopheresis for acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease: does it work?. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2006;12:37–40
  8. Foss FM, DiVenuti GM, Chin K, et al. Prospective study of extracorporeal photopheresis in steroid-refractory or steroid-resistant extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease: analysis of response and survival incorporating prognostic factors. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2005;35:1187–1193
  9. Kim JG, Sohn SK, Kim DH, et al. Different efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil as salvage treatment for acute and chronic GVHD after allogeneic stem cell transplant. Eur J Haematol. 2004;73:56–61
  10. Takami A, Mochizuki K, Okumura H, et al. Mycophenolate mofetil is effective and well tolerated in the treatment of refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease. Int J Hematol. 2006;83:80–85
  11. Giaccone L, Martin P, Carpenter P, et al. Safety and potential efficacy of low-dose methotrexate for treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2005;36:337–341
  12. Miklos DB, Kim HT, Miller KH, et al. Antibody responses to H-Y minor histocompatibility antigens correlate with chronic graft-versus-host disease and disease remission. Blood. 2005;105:2973–2978
  13. Stuart A, Ord J. Kendall's Advanced Theory of Statistics. London: Edward Arnold; 1994;
  14. DerSimonian R, Laird N. Meta-analysis in clinical trials. Control Clin Trials. 1986;7:177–188
  15. Higgins J, Green S (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, version 5.0.0 [updated February 2008]. Available from: www.cochrane-handbook.org.
  16. Egger M, Smith DG, Schneider M, et al. Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ. 1997;315:629–634
  17. Peters JL, Sutton AJ, Jones DR, et al. Performance of the trim and fill method in the presence of publication bias and between-study heterogeneity. Stat Med. 2007;26:4544–4562
  18. von Bonin M, Oelschlagel U, Radke J, et al. Treatment of chronic steroid-refractory graft-versus-host disease with low-dose rituximab. Transplantation. 2008;86:875–879
  19. Canninga-van Dijk MR, van der Straaten HM, Fijnheer R, et al. Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment in 6 patients with therapy-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease. Blood. 2004;104:2603–2606
  20. Cutler C, Miklos D, Kim HT, et al. Rituximab for steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease. Blood. 2006;108:756–762
  21. Mohty M, Marchetti N, El-Cheikh J, et al. Rituximab as salvage therapy for refractory chronic GVHD. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2008;41:909–911
  22. Okamoto M, Okano A, Akamatsu S, et al. Rituximab is effective for steroid-refractory sclerodermatous chronic graft-versus-host disease. Leukemia. 2006;20:172–173
  23. Ratanatharathorn V, Ayash L, Reynolds C, et al. Treatment of chronic graft-versus-host disease with anti-CD20 chimeric monoclonal antibody. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2003;9:505–511
  24. Zaja F, Bacigalupo A, Patriarca F, et al. Treatment of refractory chronic GVHD with rituximab: a GITMO study. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2007;40:273–277
  25. Eisenberg R, Looney RJ. The therapeutic potential of anti-CD20: “what do B-cells do?”. Clin Immunol. 2005;117:207–213
  26. Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Tate C, Perkins J, et al. Rituximab is feasible to administer to allograft recipients with advanced CD20+ malignancies and does not affect timely hematopoietic engraftment. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008;14:121–122
  27. Khouri IF, McLaughlin P, Saliba RM, et al. Eight-year experience with allogeneic stem cell transplantation for relapsed follicular lymphoma after nonmyeloablative conditioning with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab. Blood. 2008;111:5530–5536

 Financial disclosure: See Acknowledgments on page 1012.

PII: S1083-8791(09)00187-6

doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2009.04.003

Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Volume 15, Issue 9 , Pages 1005-1013 , September 2009

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution