Long-term follow-up of lymphocyte populations and cellular cytokine production in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease treated with extracorporeal photopheresis

Abstract

We studied lymphocyte populations and cytokine-expression profiles of ten patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease who at least transiently responded to photoimmunotherapy. The numbers of lymphocytes, monocytes and dendritic cells rose in most cases. Th1 cells always increased during therapy, supporting the hypothesis that a more favorable immune balance contributes to clinical responses.