10 min
Advancing Knowledge on the Use of Dexrazoxane in Children With Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Other Childhood Cancers Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) Podcast
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- Science
This podcast describes a study addressing the use of dexrazoxane as a cardioprotectant in a cohort of more than 1,000 pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients.
Transcript
This JCO Podcast provides observations and commentary on the JCO article “Effect of Dexrazoxane on Left Ventricular Systolic Function and Treatment Outcomes in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group” by Getz et al. My name is Elvira van Dalen, and I am an epidemiologist at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht, The Netherlands and a Coordinating Editor of Cochrane Childhood Cancer. My oncologic specialties are cardiotoxicity and systematic reviews and guidelines in the field of pediatric oncology. I have nothing to disclose.
Anthracyclines are widely used in pediatric oncology. Unfortunately, one of their most serious adverse effects is cardiotoxicity, which can occur during or shortly after treatment, but also decades later. In the Dutch LATER Childhood Cancer study, we found a 10.5% cumulative incidence of symptomatic heart failure 40 years after cancer diagnosis in survivors treated with cardiotoxic chemotherapy. The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and St Jude LIFE show similar results. Siblings report significantly less congestive heart failure than survivors. These are high risks, especially in this young patient population. Cardiotoxicity impairs quality of life and can lead to premature death. Prevention is thus very important.
Extensive research has been devoted to the identification of possible cardioprotective interventions, like liposomal anthracyclines, increasing the anthracycline infusion duration and reducing the cumulative anthracycline dose. Concerning the cumulative anthracycline dose, it should be kept in mind that there is no safe dose. Another option is the use of cardioprotective agents like dexrazoxane.
As shown in our Cochrane systematic review published in 2011 which is currently being updated, it prevents cardiac damage. But unfortunately, the majority of the evidence comes from studies addressing adult patients with breast cancer and these data cannot be extrapolated to children. In children as of yet only a few randomized trials have been performed, none including acute myeloid leukemia patients. In these pediatric studies, for clinical heart failure there were no significant differences between dexrazoxane and control groups, while results for asymptomatic cardiotoxicity varied with the outcome definition used. All studies were relatively short-term, and we don’t know how longer follow-up will influence these results.
Thus far only a few small non-randomized studies including 50 children or less evaluated dexrazoxane in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia, all with limitations. The article by Getz and colleagues that accompanies this podcast adds important new information to the current knowledge of the use of dexrazoxane in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients and pediatric patients in general. It presents the results from the Children’s Oncology Group AAML1031 trial investigating the use of dexrazoxane during frontline treatment of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Between 2011 and 2016, patients younger than 30 years at diagnosis were enrolled. Almost 98% were younger than 21 years. The analyses included 1014 patients, of which 10% received dexrazoxane consistently at every anthracycline course and 90% were never exposed to dexrazoxane. Anthracycline treatment involved both daunorubicin and mitoxantrone. Low risk patients received a cumulative anthracycline dose of 444 mg/m2, while high risk patients received 294 mg/m2 assuming the daunorubicin equivalency conversion employed by the Children’s Oncology Group at the time of this protocol. Patients were followed for a median of 3.5 years, with an interquartile range of 2.5 to 4.7 years. Cardiac function was assessed using either echocardiography or multigated acquisition scans which wer
This podcast describes a study addressing the use of dexrazoxane as a cardioprotectant in a cohort of more than 1,000 pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients.
Transcript
This JCO Podcast provides observations and commentary on the JCO article “Effect of Dexrazoxane on Left Ventricular Systolic Function and Treatment Outcomes in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group” by Getz et al. My name is Elvira van Dalen, and I am an epidemiologist at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht, The Netherlands and a Coordinating Editor of Cochrane Childhood Cancer. My oncologic specialties are cardiotoxicity and systematic reviews and guidelines in the field of pediatric oncology. I have nothing to disclose.
Anthracyclines are widely used in pediatric oncology. Unfortunately, one of their most serious adverse effects is cardiotoxicity, which can occur during or shortly after treatment, but also decades later. In the Dutch LATER Childhood Cancer study, we found a 10.5% cumulative incidence of symptomatic heart failure 40 years after cancer diagnosis in survivors treated with cardiotoxic chemotherapy. The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and St Jude LIFE show similar results. Siblings report significantly less congestive heart failure than survivors. These are high risks, especially in this young patient population. Cardiotoxicity impairs quality of life and can lead to premature death. Prevention is thus very important.
Extensive research has been devoted to the identification of possible cardioprotective interventions, like liposomal anthracyclines, increasing the anthracycline infusion duration and reducing the cumulative anthracycline dose. Concerning the cumulative anthracycline dose, it should be kept in mind that there is no safe dose. Another option is the use of cardioprotective agents like dexrazoxane.
As shown in our Cochrane systematic review published in 2011 which is currently being updated, it prevents cardiac damage. But unfortunately, the majority of the evidence comes from studies addressing adult patients with breast cancer and these data cannot be extrapolated to children. In children as of yet only a few randomized trials have been performed, none including acute myeloid leukemia patients. In these pediatric studies, for clinical heart failure there were no significant differences between dexrazoxane and control groups, while results for asymptomatic cardiotoxicity varied with the outcome definition used. All studies were relatively short-term, and we don’t know how longer follow-up will influence these results.
Thus far only a few small non-randomized studies including 50 children or less evaluated dexrazoxane in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia, all with limitations. The article by Getz and colleagues that accompanies this podcast adds important new information to the current knowledge of the use of dexrazoxane in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients and pediatric patients in general. It presents the results from the Children’s Oncology Group AAML1031 trial investigating the use of dexrazoxane during frontline treatment of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Between 2011 and 2016, patients younger than 30 years at diagnosis were enrolled. Almost 98% were younger than 21 years. The analyses included 1014 patients, of which 10% received dexrazoxane consistently at every anthracycline course and 90% were never exposed to dexrazoxane. Anthracycline treatment involved both daunorubicin and mitoxantrone. Low risk patients received a cumulative anthracycline dose of 444 mg/m2, while high risk patients received 294 mg/m2 assuming the daunorubicin equivalency conversion employed by the Children’s Oncology Group at the time of this protocol. Patients were followed for a median of 3.5 years, with an interquartile range of 2.5 to 4.7 years. Cardiac function was assessed using either echocardiography or multigated acquisition scans which wer
10 min
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