Encouraging results of photopheresis

Tests on a new form of treatment called extracorporeal photopheresis have been announced.

Results from an international multi-center Phase II clinical trial suggest that extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) may be effective in treating patients with clinically active (OR symptomatic) Crohn's disease who cannot tolerate or are refractory to immunosuppressants and/or anti-TNF agents.

A 50% response rate after 3 months of ECP treatment was noted in the study, using standard disease activity criteria, as presented this afternoon at a scientific research session of Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The majority of patients who responded to ECP therapy had a notable improvement in their disease symptoms and signs after only six weeks of treatment.

You can read more about photopheresis at the Wikipedia and in layman's terms at aidsmap. Essentially, it involves exposing the patient's blood to ultraviolet radiation. The term extracorporeal means outside the body, so the blood is drawn out, exposed to UV, then returned. It is a recommended treatment for some diseases, but is being tested on many others.