ISSN : 2146-3123
E-ISSN : 2146-3131

Eltrombopag for the Treatment of Poor Graft Function Following Haematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Real-Life Data
Ekin Kırcalı1, Güldane Cengiz Seval1, Cemaleddin Öztürk1, Hülya Yılmaz1, Derya Koyun1, Sinem Civriz Bozdağ1, Selami Koçak Toprak1, Pervin Topçuoğlu1, Önder Arslan1, Muhit Özcan1, Taner Demirer1, Osman İlhan1, Günhan Gürman1, Meral Beksaç1, Meltem Kurt Yüksel1
1Department of Hematology, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2022.2022-2-48
Pages : 51-56

Abstract

Background: Eltrombopag has an off-label indication for haematopoietic cell transplantation in patients experiencing delayed thrombocyte recovery and/or thrombocytopaenia.
Aims: To present our centre’s experience of using this agent not only for post- haematopoietic cell transplantation thrombocytopaenia but also for poor graft functioning in the post-haematopoietic cell transplantation setting.
Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.
Methods: Thirty-nine patients who had persistent cytopaenia following haematopoietic cell transplantation and treated with eltrombopag at our centre between October 2011 and December 2021 were retrospectively identified. During this period, 9 (23.1%) and 30 (76.9%) patients who underwent allogeneic transplantations, respectively, received eltrombopag.
Results: The female-to-male ratio was 12:27, and the median transplant age was 49 (18-70) years. Eight (20.5%) patients had isolated thrombocytopaenia, 19 (49.4%) had bi-lineage cytopaenia and 12 (30.1%) had pancytopaenia. Patients received a median of 50 mg/day (25-150 mg/day) of eltrombopagfor a median duration of 82 (24-386) days. Nine (23.1%) patients had autologous haematopoietic cell transplantation, and 30 (76.9%) had allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (14 unrelated, 9 sibling and 7 haploidentical). The median donor age was 32 (20-67) years. The median follow-up was 16.4 (1.8-84.3) months. The median pre-treatment platelet count was 11x109/l (1-23), which increased to 41x109/l (6-150). The median platelet count increment was 29.5x109/l (p = 0.001). The pre-treatment median neutrophil count was 1.19x109/l (0.39-5.1), which increased to 2.35 x109/l (0.1-5.33) (p = 0.05), and the pre-treatment median haemoglobin was 8.3 (6.2-14) g/dl, which increased to 10 (6.2-14) g/dl (p = 0.001) with eltrombopag. No eltrombopag-related hepatotoxicity occurred; however, 1 (2.6%) patient failed to continue treatment because of two consecutive episodes of deep venous thrombosis. Six (15.4%) patients were unresponsive to eltrombopag and dependent on blood product transfusions. After a median time of 82 days, 61.5% of the patients discontinued eltrombopag successfully.
Conclusion: The results confirmed that eltrombopag could provide a rapid, sustained response in patients with poor graft functioning after haematopoietic cell transplantation. This finding is essential given the high rate of non-relapse mortality caused by poor graft functioning after haematopoietic cell transplantation.

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