A review of low dose interleukin-2 therapy in management of chronic graft-versus-host-disease.

Clinical trials using Low dose IL-2 have been done at single centers in small patient series. The majority of the clinical responses seen with IL-2 in cGVHD are classified as partial responses and efficacy as a single agent is limited. Compared to currently approved oral therapies it has to be administered subcutaneously and requires specialized processing for compounding and storage limiting its widespread use. Its use is associated with constitutional symptoms and local injection site reactions. Local reactions can be easily managed by supportive care practices like rotation of injection sites and premeditations, constitutional symptoms resolve with, dose reduction (25-50%) allowing for continued therapy. Additional studies are needed to define optimal combination strategies with approved agents. Longer acting formulations of IL-2 that require less frequent dosing may also improve patient compliance.