Efficacy and safety of regimens used for the treatment of multicentric Castleman disease: A systematic review.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Systematic review including both randomized and non-randomized studies
PubMed 35770616 · doi:10.1111/ejh.13823
What was done
Authors conducted a systematic review searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Clinicaltrials.gov with terms related to Castleman disease, treatment outcome, and patient safety to evaluate efficacy and safety of regimens for multicentric Castleman disease (MCD).
What was found
The abstract reports qualitative narrative summaries without providing specific effect sizes, sample sizes, or response percentages. For idiopathic MCD (iMCD), siltuximab showed efficacy and long-term safety in a randomized trial and extension study, tocilizumab served as an alternative, thalidomide yielded high response rates, and bortezomib showed activity in relapsed/refractory cases. For HHV8-associated MCD, rituximab with doxorubicin followed by zidovudine and valganciclovir maintenance was identified as most effective, with tocilizumab evaluated in a single-arm trial.
Why it matters
Multicentric Castleman disease is rare with limited approved therapies and low response rates to standard treatments, making synthesized evidence on alternative targeted and cytotoxic regimens clinically relevant.
Limits
The abstract omits quantitative outcome data, total participant numbers, and study counts. The underlying evidence base is primarily constrained to non-randomized, single-arm studies.
Cited by
- supports Tocilizumab is effective in approximately one-third of Castleman disease patients.