Kidney Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Kidney Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

Successful treatment of T-cell post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder with the retinoid analog bexarotene.

Tsai DE, Aqui NA, Vogl DT, Bloom RD, Schuster SJ, Nasta SD, Wasik MA

Hematologic Malignancies Program, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. detsai@mail.med.upenn.edu

T-cell post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a rare life threatening complication of organ transplantation. It is usually resistant to treatment with reduction in immunosuppression or chemotherapy and carries a poor prognosis. We report on a combined kidney and pancreas transplant patient with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive T-cell PTLD that had recurred after chemotherapy and reduction in immunosuppression. The patient was successfully treated with bexarotene, a novel synthetic retinoid analog, achieving a complete clinical response. Bexarotene may be a promising treatment for T-cell PTLD.

Published 5 July 2005 in Am J Transplant, 5(8): 2070-3.
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