Mycophenolate Mofetil (MMF) for Treatment of Chronic Graft-versus-host Disease (GVHD)

You may be eligible if

• DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
• Newly diagnosed chronic-graft-versus host disease (GVHD)
• Systemic immunosuppressive treatment indicated AND no contraindication to treatment with mycophenolate mofetil
• Has undergone prior transplantation with any type of donor, hematopoietic stem cell graft, or conditioning regimen
• No clinical, laboratory, or image-based evidence known to be present at the time of enrollment and indicating a high probability of subsequent recurrent or progressive disease
• PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
• Age
• Any age
• Performance status
• Not specified
• Life expectancy
• Not specified
• Hematopoietic
• Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mm\^3
• Hepatic
• Not specified
• Renal
• Not specified
• Pulmonary
• No known bronchiolitis obliterans as a manifestation of chronic GVHD
• Immunologic
• No fungal infection without radiographic evidence of improvement during continued antifungal therapy
• No cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia without major radiographic evidence of improvement
• No other CMV infection without reduction of antigenemia or viral load during continued antiviral therapy
• No active disseminated varicella zoster viral infection
• No known hypersensitivity or allergy to MMF
• Gastrointestinal
• Able to tolerate oral medication
• No lactose-intolerant children who are too young to swallow capsules
• No frank blood from the rectum
• No melena
• No known gastrointestinal ulceration
• Other
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception
• * Female patients must use 2 forms of contraception 4 weeks prior to, during, and for 6 weeks after completion of study treatment
• Not hospitalized at time of enrollment
• No rare, hereditary deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HGPRT)
• PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
• Biologic therapy
• See Disease Characteristics
• Chemotherapy
• Not specified
• Endocrine therapy
• Prior treatment with prednisone or equivalent allowed provided the dose was ≤ 1.0 mg/kg/day at the time of enrollment
• Concurrent systemic glucocorticoids allowed
• Radiotherapy
• Not specified
• Surgery
• Not specified
• Other
• Prior mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for prevention or treatment of acute GVHD allowed provided MMF was discontinued at least 2 weeks before the diagnosis of chronic GVHD was made
• No prior systemic treatment for chronic GVHD
• No prior treatment for chronic GVHD
• Concurrent antacids allowed provided there is at least a 2-hour interval before and after administration of MMF
• No other concurrent systemic immunosuppressive treatment except cyclosporine, tacrolimus or sirolimus