BACKGROUND High-dose therapy (HDT) with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is considered the standard of care for multiple myeloma (MM) patients <65 years. Safety and outcome of ASCT for patients >65 years is currently uncertain, especially since the introduction of novel agents for induction and maintenance therapy. Furthermore, there are no conclusive data available on risk assessmen...

BACKGROUND Efficacy of maintenance therapy in ulcerative colitis (UC) in the remission stage has been reported to depend on release profile or dosing regimen of oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) products used. Aim of this study is to investigate real life results in using oral 5-ASA products for maintaining mild to moderate UC patients in Japan. METHODS Adult UC outpatients treated with oral...

The main goal of Crohn’s disease (CD) treatment at present is to induce and maintain remission for as long as possible, and several approaches have been used as induction and maintenance therapies. There are no reports that have compared the effects on midand long-term prognosis among the induction and maintenance therapies, especially between infliximab, a chimeric antibody to tumor necrosis f...

Background. In this retrospective study, we compared the efficacy of tacrolimus (TAC) or prednisolone (PSL) for maintenance therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) at remission. Methods. The study patients were followed up for at least one year after induction of remission with either PSL (n = 55, between April 2004 and March 2014) or TAC (n = 40, between April 2009 and March 2014). Th...

BACKGROUND Therapies that maintain remission for patients with Crohn's disease are essential. Stable remission rates have been demonstrated for up to 2 years in adalimumab-treated patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease enrolled in the CHARM and ADHERE clinical trials. AIM To present the long-term efficacy and safety of adalimumab therapy through 4 years of treatment. ME...

The comparative effectiveness of intrathecal (IT) combination chemotherapy using two agents, methotrexate (MTX) and hydrocortisone (HDC), and three agents, MTX, HDC, and cytosine arabinoside (CA), in treating meningeal leukemia was determined in a randomized Southwest Oncology Group study. Following central nervous system (CNS) remission induction the same regimen was used for periodic maintena...

BACKGROUND There is currently no established standard for maintenance therapy of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS). We report the long-term clinical course, medication, pharmacokinetic data, and renal function of 23 children with primary, non-familial SRNS with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). METHODS To achieve initial remission, patients were treated with high-dose intra...

OBJECTIVES To report on the extended follow-up of relapsing/refractory CSS patients treated with mepolizumab with respect to relapse rates. METHODS The follow-up consisted of regular clinic visits of patients who received nine infusions of mepolizumab (750mg IV) and switched to methotrexate 0.3mg/kg for maintenance of remission. Glucocorticoids were maintained as low as possible. Disease acti...

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of infliximab (IFX) monotherapy versus infliximab-azathioprine sequential treatment in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. Methods. Patients newly diagnosed with CD using IFX as induction therapy were enrolled. After 6 times of IFX infusions, they were divided into IFX monotherapy group and IFX-AZA sequential therapy group. Clinical remission rates were assessed a...