Clinical efficacy of cyclophosphamide in treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of cyclophosphamide in the treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis ( PSC) .Methods Twenty-four patients with PSC who received treatment in the department of gastroenterology in our hospital from January 2004 to December 2012 were selected as subjects and divided into observation group ( n = 13) and control group ( n = 11) . The control group was treated with ursodesoxycholic acid, while the observation group with ursodesoxycholic acid plus cyclophosphamide. After four weeks of treatment, clinical outcome, changes in serum bilirubin levels, and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Categorical data were analyzed by Fisher exact probability test, and continuous data by independent-samples t test and paired-samples t test. Results Compared with the control group, the observation group had a significantly higher response rate ( 84. 62% vs 45. 45%, P = 0. 0489) , significantly more improvements in serum total and direct bilirubin levels ( t = 12. 45, P < 0. 001; t = 5. 60, P < 0. 001) , and a nonsignificantly higher incidence of adverse reactions ( 23. 08% vs 18. 18%, P = 0. 741) . Conclusion Cyclophosphamide has significant clinical efficacy and tolerable incidence of adverse events in the treatment of PSC, so it is worthy of application in clinical treatment.