ABSTRACT
Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) is a polyclonal antiserum introduced into clinical medicine more than 30 years ago. It induces a broad non-specific immunosuppression. In haematology, standard indications are severe aplastic anaemia and prophylaxis and treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (after allogeneic transplantation). For aplastic anaemia, ATG from horses has been found to be superior to ATG from rabbits. In the situation of allogeneic transplantation, ATG lessens the risk of chronic GVHD but may not improve survival. There is current controversy regarding which patients benefit most from ATG and what the ideal dosage is. It is likely that in the coming years a more specific immunosuppressive will be developed that will minimize GVHD while maintaining the graft-versus-malignancy effect.
ABSTRACT
Severe aplastic anaemia is a marrow failure syndrome characterized by pancytopenia and hypocellular bone marrow.Immunosuppressive therapy(IST)consisting of antithymocyte or antilymphocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine has been recommended for children lacking HLA-matched sibling donor.For children unresponsive to initial immunosuppressive therapy or those who relapsed after first immunosuppressive therapy,they can choose repeat course of immunosuppressive therapy,allogeneic hernatopoietic stem cell transplantation,new drugs or clinical trials.And the prognosis has been greatly improved in recent years,dueing to the development of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the application of new drugs such as eltrombopag.This article reviews researches advance in different therapies for children with relapsed or refractory severe aplastic anaemia,aimed at guaiding treatment methods.