Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a platelet disorder that affects approximately 1 in 10,000 people. In adults, the rate of spontaneous remission is only 5%, and generally, it is a chronic disease persisting for more than 6 months. Chronic refractory ITP may be defined as the failure of any modality to keep the platelet count above 20 x 103/mm3 for an appreciable time without unacceptable toxicity. Many pharmacologic treatments have been used to manage chronic refractory ITP by attempting to increase platelet counts by decreasing the rate of destruction of these cells. They include, but are not limited to, azathioprine, danazol, dapsone, combination chemotherapy, cyclosporine, and rituximab. However, these therapies offer modest response rates and can cause adverse events that necessitate drug discontinuation. The recent United States Food and Drug Administration approval of the thrombopoietin mimetics, romiplostim and eltrombopag, has provided clinicians with a novel approach for treating chronic refractory ITP. By stimulating platelet production, these drugs offer patients with this disease an alternative to the other agents. The preapproval phase III study with subcutaneous romiplostim showed significantly higher overall response rates versus placebo in both splenectomized and nonsplenectomized patients (83% for romiplostim vs 7% for placebo, p<0.0001). Twenty-five percent of patients receiving romiplostim achieved a platelet count greater than 50 x 10 3/mm3 after 1 week, and 50% achieved this platelet count within 2-3 weeks. The preapproval phase III study with oral eltrombopag demonstrated that 70% of patients receiving 50 mg/day and 81% of patients receiving 75 mg/day achieved a platelet count of at least 50 x 10 3/mm3 by day 43 (p<0.001 vs placebo for both 50 and 75 mg). Forty-four percent and 62% of patients achieved a platelet count of at least 50 x 103/mm3 by day 8 with eltrombopag 50 and 75 mg/day, respectively. When deciding which of these agents to prescribe, considerations include oral versus injectable dosage form, adverse-event profiles, and patient adherence with both taking the drug and keeping clinic appointments for monitoring of platelet counts. Several studies are under way to evaluate these drugs in chronic refractory ITP as well as other disease states. Long-term data will also be needed to assess the safety and efficacy of these agents.

HIV-associated thrombocytopenia is a disease which can be recurrent to standard therapy which includes highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) therapy, steroids and immunoglobulin. We report a patient with HIV and hepatitis C who presented with resistant thrombocytopenia. Treatment with Eltrombopag - a thrombopoeitin receptor agonist showed initial good response with recurrence of thrombocytopenia. This novel agent could be considered as a treatment option prior to splenectomy and may be useful as a temporizing measure.

BACKGROUND:

There is limited information on the natural course of chronic ITP in children. We aimed to evaluate the clinical and demographic characteristics of children with chronic ITP in the era before the availability of eltrombopag.

METHODS:

A total of 86 children with chronic ITP between 1978-2014 were included. Demographic findings, laboratory results, clinical signs, bleeding scores, response time and time of complete remission were recorded.

RESULTS:

The male/female ratio was 1.09, and median follow-up time was 3 years (range: 1.5-17 years). The median age at diagnosis of chronic ITP was 7 years (range: 2-17), and the median initial platelet count was 10 × 109/L (range: 1-66 × 109/L). Petechiae/ecchymoses were the most common clinical sign (86%) and followed by mucosal bleeding (39.5%). Severe bleeding was seen in 5% of the patients. None of them had intracranial hemorrhage. Twenty patients underwent splenectomy, and the rate of complete remission was 70%. Spontaneous complete remission was seen in 29% of the patients, and the median time to spontaneous complete remission was 3 years.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our study showed that almost one-third of patients with chronic ITP experienced spontaneous complete remission in an average of 3 years, and splenectomy provided satisfactory results in severe cases. This study demonstrates the natural history of chronic ITP in childhood before the era of eltrombopag.

This study evaluates pharmacokinetics of eltrombopag 50 mg after the oral administration in Mexican healthy volunteers under fasting conditions. The study will be an open label, single dose study with 26 subjects planned to be enrolled. Healthy subjects (male and female) aged between 18 - 50 years of age (inclusive) and a Body Mass Index within the range of 18-27.0 kg/meter (m)\^2 (inclusive) were enrolled according to Quetelet. REVOLADE is a registered trademark of the GSK group of companies.

[Formula presented] Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) based on antithymoglobin (ATG) and cyclosporin (CsA) is the first-line treatment for severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients who are unfit for transplantation,and the overall response rate (ORR) is about 70%.The utility of eltrombopag (EPAG),a TPO receptor agonist, achieved robust hematologic response in refractory and treatment-naïve SAA patients in clinical trials and some other studies. However, only a few data came from Asia countries where higher incidence of AA has been reported. A retrospective study on the use of EPAG in AA was conducted in mainland China. Aplastic anemia (transfusion dependent non-severe, severe, and very severe) patients who started eltrombopag before Feb 2019 and continued for at least 3 months either as first-line treatment or as rescue treatment, were enrolled. The maximum daily dosage of EPAG used continuously for at least 2 weeks is defined as the stable dosage. Response criteria were referred to that used in previous reports (Townsley DM, NEJM 2017; BCSH, BJH 2016). Fifty-six patients from eleven centers were enrolled in this study, including 26 males and 30 females at the median age of 39 (7-80) years. All patients were transfusion-dependent by the time of EPAG administration, and there were 14 VSAA, 24 SAA and 18 transfusion dependent non-severe aplastic anemia (TD-NSAA). Nineteen treatment-naïve patients received EPAG and IST (ATG+CsA, n=10; CsA/CsA+androgen, n=9) as first-line treatment. Thirty-seven patients were refractory to IST. Eltrombopag was administered at a median dose of 75 (25-150) mg per day for 7 (3-31) month. The median follow-up time was 9 (3-40) months. The overall response rate in patients receiving EPAG as first-line therapy was 78.9% (15/19), and most patients achieved complete response (CR) (10/15). Among the 10 patients receiving ATG+CsA, 6 patients achieved hematologic response (HR) at 3 months post-treatment, including 3 CR. Six patients were diagnosed as VSAA and three achieved HR. For the 9 patients treated with CsA/CsA+androgen, 8 achieved HR (88.9%) and 4 were CR (44.4%) at 3 months. By last follow-up, the cumulative HR rate was 70% in ATG+CsA group and 89% in CsA/CsA+ androgen group. Among the 14 responders, 11 patients receiving EPAG at a stable dosage ≤75mg/d and achieved HR at 3 months. The overall response rate in IST-refractory patients was 46% (17/37), with trilineage response in 27% patients at 3 months. For the 18 ATG+CsA refractory SAA patients,trilineage HR occurred in 4 patients (22.2%, 4/18), bi-lineage HR in one patient and single lineage HR in one patient. Thus, the total HR was 33.3% (6/18) at 3 months and increased to 44% (8/18) by last follow-up. Among the 19 CsA/CsA+ androgen refractory patients, 6 (31.5%, 6/19) achieved trilineage HR, one achieved bi-lineage HR and 4 achieved single lineage response. Total HR rate was 57.9% (11/19) at 3 months after EPAG initiation and 68% (13/19) by last follow-up, including 9 patients with trilineage HR. Among 17 responders, 13 received a stable EPAG dose of≤75mg/d. Most patients tolerated EPAG well. Adverse events occurred in 29 patients (52%) and most were mild to moderate, including gastrointestinal symptom (n=15, e.g. abdominal pain, nausea), impaired liver function (n=5), skin changes (n=7, e.g. skin pruritus and rash) and musculoskeletal pain (n=6), and venous thrombus (n=2). Eltrombopag dosage was reduced in 2 patients due to severe digestive symptoms at 100 mg/d and discontinued in one patient who suffered from upper limb venous thrombus. In conclusion, EPAG is effective and safe in treating Chinese AA patients at a daily dose of 75mg and less. The real-world result of EPAG in Chinese patients is similar to those reported in Western countries. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: Eltrombopag (EPAG), an oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist, is approved for treating thrombocytopenia in adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) with insufficient response to prior therapy. Pooled data from 2 similarly designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo (PBO)-controlled studies investigating safety and efficacy of EPAG in pediatric ITP are presented here. Methods: Subjects aged 1 to <18 years with a confirmed diagnosis of persistent or chronic ITP and a platelet count <30 Gi/L at day 1 were randomized 2:1 to EPAG or PBO and stratified by age: 12-17 years (Cohort 1), 6-11 years (Cohort 2), and 1-5 years (Cohort 3). Subjects could continue baseline ITP medications. After the PBO-controlled randomized phase, subjects were permitted to complete 17 or 24 weeks of treatment with open-label (OL) EPAG. Dose was adjusted based on platelet counts to a maximum of 75 mg daily. Results: A total of 174 subjects were enrolled in both studies; 171 received ≥1 dose of EPAG. 159 subjects were randomized (intent-to-treat population), and 157 received ≥1 dose of randomized study treatment (safety population). In the randomized period, 3 EPAG and 1 PBO subject discontinued study treatment, of which 2 EPAG and 1 PBO discontinued due to adverse events (AEs). In the OL-EPAG period, an additional 14 EPAG subjects discontinued study treatment, 6 due to AEs. Males comprised 47% of the EPAG and PBO groups and 20% and 24% were East Asians, respectively. Most subjects (93%) were diagnosed with ITP for ≥12 months, and 13% were receiving ITP medications at baseline. The majority of subjects (81%) received ≥2 prior ITP therapies. Most subjects (59%) had a baseline platelet count <15 Gi/L. All 9 (6%) splenectomized subjects were randomized to the EPAG group. Randomized Period A higher proportion of EPAG versus PBO subjects (62% vs 24%; P < 0.001) achieved a response with platelet counts ≥50 Gi/L at least once between weeks 1-6 (Cohort 1, 64% vs 11%; Cohort 2, 64% vs 27%; Cohort 3, 54% vs 36%, respectively). At each week, a higher proportion of EPAG subjects had a response versus PBO (Fig. 1). A lower proportion of EPAG subjects (13%) received rescue treatment compared with PBO subjects (31%; P = 0.009). The odds of having World Health Organization (WHO) bleeding grades 1-4 (0.19; P = 0.011) and clinically significant (WHO grades 2-4) bleeding (0.29; P = 0.007) were lower for EPAG versus PBO subjects. EPAG-Only Period Sustained reduction or discontinuation of baseline ITP medications, primarily corticosteroids, was achieved by 50% of subjects; 81% of subjects had a platelet count response at least once; 52% (n = 80/154) had a platelet count response for ≥50% of assessments; and 38% (n = 58/154) responded for ≥75% of assessments. For >13 of 24 weeks, 47% of subjects achieved responses (Fig. 2). The median average daily dose for EPAG-exposed patients in Cohorts 1, 2, and 3 were 64.0 mg (0.93 mg/kg), 57.6 mg (1.50 mg/kg), and 37.0 mg (2.02 mg/kg), respectively. AEs Similar proportions of subjects in the EPAG and PBO groups reported an AE during the randomization period. The most common AEs (≥10% of subjects) were headache, upper respiratory tract infection, and nasopharyngitis in the EPAG group, and headache, epistaxis, and vomiting in the PBO group. Serious AEs (SAEs) were reported in 8% of EPAG subjects versus 12% of PBO subjects. No SAEs were reported by >1 subject in either treatment group except epistaxis, which was reported by 2 subjects in the PBO group. No SAEs were common to both treatment groups. In the randomized period, an ALT elevation of 33 x ULN occurred in 5 (4.7%) subjects in the EPAG group and no subjects in the PBO group. In the OL period, there were an additional 7 subjects with ALT 33 x ULN. All elevations resolved either while still on treatment or after discontinuation of study treatment. Overall, the hepatobiliary laboratory findings were mostly mild, reversible, and not accompanied by impaired liver function. Fewer EPAG than PBO subjects reported bleeding AEs (17% vs 36%, respectively). No thromboembolic events were reported. Cataract events were experienced by 2 subjects who received EPAG; both had used corticosteroids and 1 had pre-existing cataracts. Conclusions: EPAG was safe and raised platelet counts in 62% of pediatric patients with persistent and chronic ITP during the randomized phase. Treatment with EPAG was well tolerated in both studies as evidenced by the low incidence of treatment discontinuations due to AEs..

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The addition of thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) to immunosuppressive therapy (IST) improves the hematologic response rate and quality in patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA). However, no studies have yet reported on whether there are differences in the efficacy of TPO-RAs. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of SAA patients who received hetrombopag (HPAG) or eltrombopag (EPAG) as part of first-line standard IST to compare the efficacy. Sixty-seven patients were enrolled in the HPAG group and 42 patients in the EPAG group. The overall hematologic response (OR) rates of the HPAG group at 3 and 6 months after IST were 50.7% and 65.6%, respectively, close to that of the EPAG group (50%, p = 0.973; 73.8%, p = 0.494). The rates of complete response (CR) at 3 and 6 months were 13.4% and 31.3% in the HPAG group, respectively, which were like those in the EPAG group (11.9% and 28.6%), with no statistical difference (p = 1.00 and 0.59). The median time to first response (3.0 vs. 3.2 months, p = 0.79) was similar in HPAG and EPAG. The overall survival (OS) rates were 91.0% and 92.8% in the HPAG group and EPAG group (p = 0.53), respectively. Monosomy 7 was detected in one patient in the EPAG group and her disease transformed into acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) at 25 months after ATG treatment. One patient in HPAG had trisomy 8 at 9 months of ATG treatment, and bone marrow examination showed no disease progression.

CONCLUSION:

The addition of HPAG to standard IST in SAA patients showed similar response rates and response quality to that of EPAG. HPAG could be an alternative to EPAG for the first-line treatment of SAA patients.

To investigate the efficacy and safety for secondary poor graft function (PGF) post allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The primary objective is the hematologic response rate. Secondary objectives include: (1) incidence and severity of adverse events; (2) overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival(DFS).

Introduction: Eltrombopag (EPAG), a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, was approved for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) combined with immunosuppressive therapy (IST). However, EPAG contains a typical biphenyl structure, which causes liver function damage. Methods: Twenty patients with SAA who were intolerant or refractory to EPAG were enrolled in a multicenter prospective registry of the Chinese Eastern Collaboration Group of Anemia (ChiCTR2100045895) from October 2020 to June 2023. Results: Eight patients who were ineffective to EPAG, six with kidney impairment, and nine with abnormal liver function (two with concomitant liver and kidney impairment) were converted to avatrombopag (AVA) therapy with the median duration of AVA treatment was 6 (3-24) months. 17 cases (85%) achieved trilineage hematological response (HR): complete remission (CR) in 3 cases (15%), good partial remission (GPR) in 4 cases (20%), partial remission (PR) in 10 cases (50%), and no response (NR) in 3 cases (15%). The median time to response was 1.7 (0.5-6.9) months, with 16 cases (94%) achieving response within six months and 17 cases (100%) within 12 months. 9 cases (50%) achieved transfusion independence. AVA converted treatment was associated with higher neutrophil counts (0.8×109/L vs 2.2×109/L, p=0.0003), platelet counts (11×109/L vs 39×109/L, p=0.0008), hemoglobin count (59g/L vs 98g/L, p=0.0002), red cell count (1.06×1012/L vs 2.97×1012/L, p=0.001), and absolute reticulocyte count (31.99 ×109/L vs 67.05×109/L p=0.0004) were all significantly elevated compared with the pre-treatment level. After the conversion to AVA therapy, liver and kidney function indexes were maintained within the normal range, no AVA related grade 2 or higher adverse events occurred, and no thrombotic events occurred. Conclusion: The conversion to AVA was an optimal choice for patients with SAA who were EPAG intolerant or refractory. Clinical trial registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=125480, identifier ChiCTR2100045895.