Improvement of quality of life in patients with steroid‐refractory chronic graft‐versus‐host disease treated with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus. (3rd November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lutz, Mathias; Kapp, Markus; Einsele, Hermann; Grigoleit, Götz Ulrich; Mielke, Stephan
• Is Part Of: Clinical transplantation. Volume 28:Number 12(2014)
• Page Start: 1410
• Page End: 1415
• Publication Date: 2014-11-03
• Subjects: Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc -- Periodicals; 617.95
• DOI: 10.1111/ctr.12472
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0902-0063

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ctr12472-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Compromised quality of life (QoL) is a frequent consequence of treatment‐refractory chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (cGvHD). Here, we report on the assessment of QoL in a subgroup of 22 patients with a median age of 54 (17–70) yr receiving an everolimus‐based salvage therapy at a single center for their steroid‐refractory cGvHD. Five patients suffered from mild, 13 from moderate, and four from severe cGvHD according to NIH consensus criteria when everolimus was introduced. Median treatment duration was 390 d ranging from 86 to 814 d. We performed actual and retrospective assessments of QoL (EuroQol EQ‐5D questionnaire) and degree of bother experienced by cGvHD symptoms (Lee cGvHD Symptom Scale). Seventeen of 22 patients showed an improved QoL according to the EQ‐5D visual analog scale (37.5% vs. 70.0%; p<italic> </italic>&lt;<italic> </italic>0.001), and a decline in the median Lee cGvHD Symptom Scale was noted in 20 of 22 patients (28 vs. 17; p<italic> </italic>&lt;<italic> </italic>0.001). Furthermore, an improvement was noted in each of the five dimensions of the EQ‐5D descriptive system. These data even when limited by their retrospective nature suggest that beyond physical responses everolimus may have contributed to the rebuilding of patients' QoL.</p> </abstract>