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Future perspectives of ECP for GvHD treatment
By Ella Dixon
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The GvHD Hub was pleased to speak to Andrew Gennery, Newcastle University and Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and Chair of the UK Photopheresis Society, about the future directions of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) for the treatment of GvHD.
Future perspectives of ECP for GvHD treatment
Gennery begins by providing a background to using ECP in pediatric patients, including the potential complications involved and how to mitigate these. He then discusses the process of ECP, including mechanism of action, treatment scheduling, and its efficacy in different types of GvHD.
Gennery goes on to speak about how the treatment landscape for GvHD has changed in the last 5 years, how it might change in the future, and where ECP fits in as an immunomodulatory agent. In the future, ECP may be combined with the newer immunosuppressive agents that are approved, or in development, for the treatment of GvHD to deliver positive outcomes for patients.
Key points
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When using ECP in pediatric patients with low body weight, blood prime of the ECP machine prior to use can reduce the risk of hypotension.
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Patients need to protect themselves from sunlight following ECP to avoid adverse effects.
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ECP is an immunomodulatory process; this differs from most treatments for GvHD which are immunosuppressive. ECP leads to down-regulation of dendritic cells, down-regulation of activated T lymphocytes, and an increase in number of regulatory T cells.
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In recent years, new agents have been licensed in GvHD, which has changed the treatment landscape. Clinical trials are needed to investigate the efficacy of combinations of ECP and newer agents, compared with these treatments alone.
Listen to this video as a podcast here:
Future perspectives of ECP for GvHD treatment
This independent educational activity was supported by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. All content was developed independently by the faculty. The funder was allowed no influence on the content of this activity.
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