National Institutes of Health State of the Science Symposium in Therapeutic Apheresis: Scientific Opportunities in Extracorporeal Photopheresis

The clinical use of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) for accepted indications such as graft versus host disease, transplant rejection, and cutaneous T- cell lymphoma continues to increase. Expanded applications for ECP, such as the treatment of select autoimmune diseases, are being explored. ECP’s capacity to both immunotolerize in the autoreactive setting, while immunizing against a lymphoma is unusual and suggestive of a unique mechanism. It is likely that ECP’s induction of dendritic cells is key to its efficacy in both of these settings, but exactly how ECP impacts other immune components and their interactions is not fully understood.
Source: Transfusion Medicine Reviews - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research