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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 221-227 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Indian Journal of Medical Research |
| Volume | 150 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 Indian Journal of Medical Research, published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow for Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Funding
Authors thank Ms Donna Gilbreath, Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, USA, for manuscript editing.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| University of Kentucky |
Keywords
- Anti-thymocyte globulin
- graft-versus-host disease
- immunosuppressive effect
- myelodysplastic syndrome
- severe aplastic anaemia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine