0000000000003126
AUTHOR
Michele Rizzo
Improving survival with deferiprone treatment in patients with thalassemia major: A prospective multicenter randomised clinical trial under the auspices of the Italian Society for Thalassemia and Hemoglobinopathies
The prognosis for thalassemia major has dramatically improved in the last two decades. However, many transfusion-dependent patients continue to develop progressive accumulation of iron. This can lead to tissue damage and eventually death, particularly from cardiac disease. Previous studies that investigated iron chelation treatments, including retrospective and prospective non-randomised clinical trials, suggested that mortality, due mainly to cardiac damage, was reduced or completely absent in patients treated with deferiprone (DFP) alone or a combined deferiprone-deferoxamine (DFP-DFO) chelation treatment. However, no survival analysis has been reported for a long-term randomised control …
IL28B polymorphisms influence stage of fibrosis and spontaneous or interferon-induced viral clearance in thalassemia patients with hepatitis C virus infection.
Background. Polymorphisms in the interleukin-28B are important determinants in the spontaneous and drug-induced control of hepatitis C virus infection. Design and Methods. We assessed the association of rs8099917 and rs12979860 polymorphisms with spontaneous viral clearance, severity of liver fibrosis, and response to interferon-monotherapy in 245 Thalassemia Major patients with Hepatitis C Virus infection. Results. Ninety-eight patients (40%) had a spontaneous viral clearance, while 147 patients (60%) developed a chronic infection. Spontaneous viral clearance was more frequent among patients with the T/T genotype of rs8099917 polymorphism (OR 2.130; p=0.008) or C/C genotype of rs12979860 p…
Long-Term Use of Deferiprone Enhances Significantly the Left Ventricular Ejection Function in Thalassemia Major
Abstract Abstract 5302 Background: A multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed to assess the effectiveness of long-term sequential deferiprone-deferoxamine (DFO-DFP) versus DFP alone to treat thalassaemia major (TM) (Maggio et al.,2009). Effectviness, survival, adverse events and costs were comparable between the groups. These findings were confirmed in a further 21-month follow-up (Pantalone et al., 2011). Moreover, deferiprone-alone has been reported to be superior to deferoxamine for the removal of cardiac iron and improvement in left ventricular ejection function (LVEF). However, little is known of its relative effect on LVEF after long-term treatment. Therefore, data f…
Urology Residency Training in Italy: Results of the First National Survey
Background: Numerous surveys have been performed to determine the competence and the confidence of residents. However, there is no data available on the condition of Italian residents in urology. Objective: To investigate the status of training among Italian residents in urology regarding scientific activity and surgical exposure. Design, setting, and participants: A web-based survey that included 445 residents from all of the 25 Italian Residency Programmes was conducted between September 2015 and November 2015. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The main outcomes were represented by scientific activity, involvement in surgical procedures, and overall satisfaction. Results and …
Long-term sequential deferiprone-deferoxamine versus deferiprone alone for thalassemia major patients: a randomised clinical trial
A multicentre randomized open-label trial was designed to assess the effectiveness of long-term sequential deferiprone–deferoxamine (DFO–DFP) versus DFP alone to treat thalassaemia major (TM). DFP at 75 mg/kg, divided into three oral daily doses, for 4 d/week and DFO by subcutaneous infusion (8–12 h) at 50 mg/kg per day for the remaining 3 d/week was compared with DFP alone at 75 mg/kg, administered 7 d/week during a 5-year follow-up. The main outcome measures were differences between multiple observations of serum ferritin concentrations. Secondary outcomes were survival analysis, adverse events, and costs. Consecutive thalassaemia patients (275) were assessed for eligibility; 213 of these…
Repeated Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Measurements: A Strong and Accessible Tool for Detecting At High Risk of Heart Failure Thalassemia Major Population
Abstract Abstract 3197 Background: The prognosis for thalassemia major (TM) has dramatically improved in the last two decades. However, many transfusion-dependent patients continue to develop secondary iron overloading, and eventually death, particularly from cardiac disease. The possibility of detecting easily and earliest the patients at risk of cardiac death is so far the main challenge of clinical management of these patients. Therefore, the mean reduction of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF), determined by echocardiography, was evaluated over the time. Methods: Among the 413 observed patients only 188 had complete records for LVEF measurements during, at least, five considered …
Sequential alternating deferiprone and deferoxamine treatment compared to deferiprone monotherapy: main findings and clinical follow-up of a large multicenter randomized clinical trial in -thalassemia major patients.
In β-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients, iron chelation therapy is mandatory to reduce iron overload secondary to transfusions. Recommended first line treatment is deferoxamine (DFO) from the age of 2 and second line treatment after the age of 6 is deferiprone (L1). A multicenter randomized open-label trial was designed to assess the effectiveness of long-term alternating sequential L1-DFO versus L1 alone iron chelation therapy in β-TM patients. Deferiprone 75 mg/kg 4 days/week and DFO 50 mg/kg/day for 3 days/week was compared with L1 alone 75 mg/kg 7 days/week during 5-year follow-up. A total of 213 thalassemia patients were randomized and underwent intention-to-treat analysis. Statisticall…
Potential Myocardial Iron Content Evaluation by Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Thalassemia Major Patients Treated with Deferoxamine or Deferiprone During a Randomized Multicenter Prospective Clinical Study
The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the variations of heart magnetic resonance imaging in beta-thalassemia major patients treated with Deferoxamine B mesylate (DF) or Deferiprone (L1) chelation therapy is a useful tool of the indirect myocardial iron content determination. For this reason, a prospective study was carried out. Seventy-two consecutive patients with beta-thalassemia major (35 treated with DF and 37 with L1) were studied. The main outcome results were laboratory parameters including determination of the liver iron concentration (LIC) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart and liver. The heart to muscle signal intensity ratios (HSIRs) were significantly incre…
Sustained Responses and Resistance to Imatinib Mesylate in the First 173 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Accrued by the SCREEN Multicenter Study: First Interim Report
Abstract Abstract 4276 Introduction Imatinib mesylate (IM) has shown unprecedented effectiveness in the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients (pts) in the chronic phase of the disease. As most of the data concerning the efficacy of the drug derive either from a single sponsored trial or from single institution reports, we decided to accrue all CML pts diagnosed in the Italian region of Sicily to the observational SCREEN (Siciliy CML Regional Enterprise) study, to evaluate the hematological, cytogenetic and molecular responses of this unselected population to IM. Patients and Methods Although the study is still ongoing, 173 consecutive CML pts have been enrolled between Januar…
Long-term treatment with deferiprone enhances left ventricular ejection function when compared to deferoxamine in patients with thalassemia major
Transfusion and iron chelation treatment have significantly reduced morbidity and improved survival of patients with thalassemia major. However, cardiac disease continues to be the most common cause of death. We report the left-ventricular ejection fraction, determined by echocardiography, in one hundred sixtyeight patients with thalassemia major followed for at least 5 years who received continuous monotherapy with deferoxamine (N = 108) or deferiprone (N = 60). The statistical analysis, using the generalized estimating equations model, indicated that the group treated with deferiprone had a significantly better left-ventricular ejection fraction than did those treated with deferoxamine (c…
High BCR-ABL/GUSIS Levels At Diagnosis Are Associated With Unfavorable Responses To Imatinib
Abstract The approval of three tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for the first line treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) has generated an urgent need for molecular parameters predictive of unfavorable therapeutic outcomes. Recent evidence suggests that failure to achieve early molecular responses (i.e. BCR-ABL/ABLIS levels <10% after 3 months or <1% after 6 months of TKI treatment) results in inferior rates of both overall and progression-free survival. With the current study, we wanted to establish if high BCR-ABL transcripts at diagnosis would be associated with unfavorable responses to Imatinib Mesylate (IM). Thus, we correlated quantitative determinations of BCR-ABL levels …
Deferiprone versus deferoxamine in patients with thalassemia major: a randomized clinical trial.
Deferiprone has been suggested as an effective oral chelation therapy for thalassemia major. To assess its clinical efficacy, we compared deferiprone with deferoxamine in a large multicenter randomized clinical trial. One-hundred forty-four consecutive patients with thalassemia major and serum ferritin between 1500 and 3000 ng/ml were randomly assigned to deferiprone (75 mg/kg/day) (n = 71) or deferoxamine (50 mg/kg/day) (n = 73) for 1 year. The main measure of efficacy was the reduction of serum ferritin. Liver and heart iron contents were assessed by magnetic resonance. Liver iron content and fibrosis stage variations were assessed on liver biopsy by the Ishak score in all patients willin…
Long-term use of deferiprone significantly enhances left-ventricular ejection function in thalassemia major patients
A multicenter randomized open-label long-term sequential deferiprone–deferoxamine (DFP-DFO) versus DFP alone trial (sequential DFP-DFO) performed in patients with thalassemia major (TM) was retrospectively reanalyzed to assess the variation in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) [1].
High BCR-ABL Levels At Diagnosis Are Associated with Unfavorable Responses to Imatinib Mesylate.
Abstract Abstract 2790 The approval of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for the first line treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) has generated a need for early molecular parameters associated with inadequate responses to Imatinib Mesylate (IM). Recent evidence suggests that CML patients presenting BCR-ABL/ABLIS levels >10% after 3 months of IM or >1% after 6 months of treatment have inferior outcomes in terms of both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival. We wanted to establish if high BCR-ABL transcripts at diagnosis would also be associated with unfavorable responses to IM. To this end, we correlated quantitative determinations of BCR-ABL measu…