MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alex Ganetsky, PharmD, BCOP Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Hematology/BMT Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? • Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients with steroid-refractory gastrointestinal acute graft-versus-host disease (GI-GVHD) have poor outcomes. • There is no consensus for optimal treatment of these patients. • We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of steroid-refractory GI-GVHD. • 10/11 (91%) patients achieved a complete response after a median time of 11 days (range, 2 – 18) from tocilizumab initiation. • The median time to response onset, defined as improvement in GVHD stage by at least 1, was 1 day (range, 1 – 6). • At a median follow-up of 3 months (range, 1.1 – 12.8) from tocilizumab initiation, 8 of 11 patients are alive and free of the their underlying hematologic malignancy. • No associations between serum levels of IL-6 and tocilizumab response could be identified. (more…)