Applications

1420 – Extracorporeal photopheresis for treatment of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

Find out about the service or technology in this application and the medical condition it addresses. You can also view the application documents, the deadlines for providing consultation input and the outcome of the application when the MSAC process is complete.

  • Status Complete
  • Type New application
  • Pre-PASC consultation -
  • Pre-MSAC consultation -
  • Outcome Deferred

Application details

Reason for application

New MBS item.

Service or technology in this application

Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) service is indicated for the management of steroids-refractory acute and chronic GVHD and CTCL. It is a cell-based immunomodulatory therapy performed via intravenous access, comprising three stages: leukapheresis, photoactivation and reinfusion. Blood is passed through multiple cycles of leukapheresis. At the end of the each leukapheresis cycle, the red blood cells and plasma are returned to the patient. Only a small percentage (approximately 10%) of leukocytes is collected from peripheral blood. These white blood cells are incubated with a photosensitising agent, methoxsalen (UVADEX®), and are then exposed to ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation, after which the treated cells are reinfused back to the patient.

Type: Therapeutic

Medical condition this application addresses

Graft-versus-host disease Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an immune-mediated disease resulting from a complex interaction between donor and recipient adaptive immunity. It is a frequent complication of allogeneic bone marrow transplants or solid organ transplants.

Application documents

Consultation protocol – Extracoporeal photopheresis for treatment of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease

Final protocol – Extracoporeal photopheresis for treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

Public summary document

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Meetings to consider this application

  • PASC meeting: 11 - 12 August 2016
  • ESC meeting: 8 June 2017
  • MSAC meeting: 27 July 2017