Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Extracorporeal Photopheresis for the Treatment of Steroid-Refractory Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Abstract

The objective of this meta-analysis (MA) was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) for the treatment of steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease (SR-cGvHD). A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, followed by a feasibility assessment (FA) to assess potential between-study heterogeneity in the meta-analysis (MA). Random-effects MAs were performed for overall survival (OS), failure-free survival (FFS), overall response rate (ORR) and skin-specific response. A subgroup analysis was conducted to explore the effect of NIH assessment criteria. The SLR identified 627 records; 45 unique studies were ultimately included in the MA. For patients treated with ECP, at Month 12, the pooled OS rate was 83.97% and the pooled FFS rate was 60.79%. ORR was 45.34% at Months 3–4 and 58.23% at Months 6–8. Subgroup analyses showed no significant difference in ORR between studies utilizing NIH criteria and those utilizing non-NIH criteria. Skin-specific response was 34.86% at Months 2–3 and 54.22% at Months 4–6. There was considerable heterogeneity across all analyses, with I2 values ranging from 65% to 91%. This SLR and MA indicates that ECP results in favorable outcomes in the treatment of SR-cGvHD, including OS, FFS and ORR.