Combination therapy of hydroxyurea and thalidomide in β-thalassemia
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This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of a combination therapy of hydroxyurea (HU) and thalidomide in patients with β-thalassemia, showing significant reductions in blood transfusion volume and increases in hemoglobin levels. With 135 participants, the findings indicate that 65.93% were good responders to the therapy, despite the use of an escalating dose regime for thalidomide showing minimal increase in hemoglobin. Limitations include a small sample size and lack of randomization, underscoring the need for larger trials to confirm these results.
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Combination therapy of hydroxyurea and thalidomide in β-thalassemia
- 1. Journal Presentation Date 21.01.2023 Dr Dibyajyoti Prusty
- 2. Evaluation of the combination therapy of hydroxyurea and thalidomide in β-thalassemia • Saqib H.Ansari et al • Department of Hematology & Oncology and Department of Research, Children’s Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan; Department of Molecular Genetics, Children’s Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan; • Final version published online 19 December 2022. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2022007031. © 2022 byThe American Society of Hematology
- 3. β-thalassemia syndrome • Constitutes a group of genetic blood disorders caused by decreased expression of β globin chains resulting in reduced hemoglobin levels and red blood cell production, and anemia. • β-thalassemia major- Usually manifests at 6 to 24 months of age with failure to thrive and progressive hepatosplenomegaly. • β-thalassemia intermedia- Presents after 2 years of age with milder anemia and occasional need of blood transfusions.
- 4. • Because of limited resources in low-and-middle income countries, patients receiving suboptimal care can experience jaundice, pallor, growth retardation, and extramedullary hematopoiesis resulting in axial and appendicular skeletal deformities • The transfusion-resultant iron overload ultimately restricts children’s physical and sexual growth and negatively affects the heart, liver, and endocrine systems. • Chronic blood transfusions also increase the likelihood of acquiring transfusion-transmitted infections.
- 5. • The standard of care remains bone marrow transplantation or lifelong blood transfusions followed by iron chelation therapies. • Lack of access to bone marrow transplant services and safe blood in low- and-middle-income countries and other transfusion-related hazards has compelled researchers to search for alternative therapies. • Various medications have been investigated for their potential to augment hemoglobin F (HbF) and reactivate γ-globin genes. • The therapeutic response has been demonstrated in patients with β- thalassemia as increased hemoglobin (Hb) levels and reduced or eliminated need for transfusion.
- 6. • HU use in patients with thalassemia. FromThe Authors previous publications: • 36% of patients were complete responders and are entering the third decade of their lives with improved life quality as they maintain their Hb around or above 7 to 8 g/dL; • for some, their phenotype has transformed from thalassemia major to intermedia. • However, 20% demonstrated a partial response • 43.75% demonstrated no response to HU. • Search for Alternate therapy !
- 7. • Thalidomide is an immune modulator that is being studied for its HbF induction potential and has demonstrated significant transfusion reduction in patients with BThal major and Intermedia.* • Thalidomide causes suppression of nuclear factor-κB induction by inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor, which potentially increases HbF. *(Investigating the Efficacy and Safety of Thalidomide for Treating Patients With ß-Thalassemia: A Meta-Analysis ; Yanfei Lu, † Zhenbin Wei, † Gaohui Yang, Yongrong Lai,* and Rongrong Liu* ; Front Pharmacol. 2021; 12: 814302.)
- 8. Evaluation of the combination therapy of hydroxyurea and thalidomide in β-thalassemia • The study goal was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy of thalidomide and HU after 6 months for patients with BThal major and Intermedia. • This study presents the findings of a single-arm nonrandomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of combination therapy of HU and thalidomide in children with β-thalassemia.
- 9. • Participants aged between 2 and 50 years of either sex presenting with clinical manifestation and genetic diagnosis of BTM and BTI were consecutively enrolled in the study. • For all participants, bone marrow transplant was not an option because of a lack of financial resources, absence of a human leukocyte antigen- matched donor, or high risk of transplant-related mortality. • All participants were already being treated with HU but showed partial response or decline in their response. Patients with comorbidities such as liver dysfunction and married patients were excluded because of the potential of teratogenicity of the experimental drug.
- 10. • A total of 135 patients (median age 6), 77 (57%) males and 58 (43%) females, were followed first using HU alone, for 6 months, and then using the combination of HU and thalidomide for another 6 months. • The primary outcome was a response to therapy, as measured by the number of transfusions required and Hb levels, for patients while receiving HU alone and then while using the combination therapy.
- 11. • HU alone was continued at the dose of 10 to 20 mg/kg once a day for 6 months and the response was recorded. • At 6 months, thalidomide was added to the regimen at a dose of 2 to 5 mg/kg, orally, once a day at bedtime. • An escalating dose regime was used for thalidomide, and those who did not respond to a lower dose were escalated to a higher dose with a maximum dose of 5 mg/kg. • To prevent thrombosis, aspirin (2-4 mg/kg per day) was also prescribed.
- 12. • Responders were defined as patients who were being transfused on HU but displayed at least a 50% reduction in PRC transfusion volume over 6 months of combination therapy. • Nonresponders were defined as patients who were off transfusion on HU therapy but who did not show any further improvement in Hb levels following the combination therapy or patients who were on transfusion but experienced less than a 50% reduction in PRC transfusion with HU and thalidomide combination therapy
- 13. Study findings • A significant decline in blood transfusion volume (P < .001) and a significant increase in median Hb levels within 3 and 6 months of the combination therapy (P < .001). • Eighty-nine (65.93%) participants were good responders, • 16 (11.85%) were responders, • 30 (22.22%) were nonresponders • The responders had variable genetic mutations.
- 17. • Hydroxyurea use positively associated certain genetic mutations such as Cd-30, IVS1-1, Cap+1, and IVS1-5 with better clinical outcomes. • The presence of the XmnI polymorphism was also significantly associated with a higher response rate with hydroxyurea. • In the present study, the combination of HU and thalidomide success was not associated with any particular genetic mutation or the presence of the XmnI polymorphism. • The responding patients had diverse genetic mutations and ~80% of the responding patients had no XmnI polymorphism.These findings support the trial of the combination therapy in patients with thalassemia irrespective of the genetic mutation. • The optimum response to the combination therapy was achieved at the dose of 2 to 3 mg/kg of thalidomide; however, we used an escalating dose regime for those who did not respond to the lower range, but escalating thalidomide resulted in only a minimal rise in hemoglobin
- 20. • A total of 38 adverse events were reported that resolved on supportive treatment or temporary hold of the intervention. • Neutropenia/leukopenia, jaundice, face swelling, diarrhea, headache, extremity pain, seizures, and constipation that subsided on temporary hold of medication or the patients recovered on symptomatic treatment
- 21. Summary • The Indian Sub-continent has a high disease burden of thalassemia; however, the existing blood banking system is still lagging.The high prevalence of transfusion-related viral infections is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. • Additionally, lack of financial resources and compliance to treatment regimen remains a barrier to effective iron chelation therapy, leading to iron overload complications and further debilitation of health in patients with thalassemia.
- 22. • Thalidomide in combination with HU is scarcely studied. • This study adds to the existing knowledge in this area. • Further, this study also analyzed the patterns of genetic mutation in patients taking the combination therapy. • It has documented not only the effect of the intervention but also correlates them with the genetic mutations and modifiers of thalassemia prevalence.
- 23. The limitations of this study: • The small sample size, lack of randomization and absence of a control group. • Some patients did not have complete Hb electrophoresis results at baseline and the test was not repeated after the intervention to study improvement in HbF levels.
- 24. • The efficacy and safety of the combination of thalidomide and HU for patients with thalassemia should be established further through larger randomized trials. • Overall, HU and thalidomide combination use resulted in an improvement in Hb levels and decreased PRC transfusions in patients with β-thalassemia irrespective of genetic mutation and XmnI polymorphism. • Large-scale randomized trials should also be conducted in parallel in 3 arms: hydroxyurea alone, HU and thalidomide, and thalidomide alone to further evaluate the efficacy of HU, thalidomide, and their combination.
- 25. • In future studies, quantification of HbG messenger RNA (both γ-globin genes) and HbF should also be considered to evaluate the mechanism of action of these medications in addition to optimization of dosages for the combination therapy. • The combination therapy (HU+Thalidomide) demonstrated promising results and could be considered for a diverse patient population with β- thalassemia. • This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT05132270.
- 26. Thank you !