scholarly journals Best Practices in Adolescent and Young Adult Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Focus on Asparaginase

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Boissel ◽  
Leonard S. Sender
Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 4913-4913
Author(s):  
Leonard S Sender ◽  
Tina Doede ◽  
Megan P. Hall ◽  
Celine Bernard

Abstract Background : Although considerable progress has been made in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the pediatric population, with long-term survival exceeding 80%, the prognosis for adolescents, young adult, and adult patients with ALL remains poor, with only 30%-45% of patients achieving long-term survival. Several studies suggest that young adult patients have superior overall survival when treated with intensive "pediatric-inspired" regimens that include the use of asparaginase [Dombret H, et al. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2014;9(2):158-164]. Despite these results, many young adult patients with ALL continue to be treated with chemotherapy regimens that include little or no asparaginase. The goal of this study was to assess the views and practices of hematologists and oncologists with respect to asparaginase use in young adult patients with ALL. Methods : This study was conducted between May 14 and June 22, 2015, and consisted of a 10-minute online quantitative survey, with a 10-minute per-patient chart audit component for up to 4 charts provided by participating physicians. The survey targeted physicians treating young adult patients (aged 18-40 years) with ALL. To be included in the final analysis, physicians were required to be board certified with 2-30 years in practice, with ≥75% of their time spent in direct patient care and ≥20% of their time spent in an academic setting (NCCN/NCI or academic/teaching hospital). Inclusion criteria also required that physicians' total ALL patient volume (young adults and adults aged >40 years) was greater than 5 over the past 2 years, that the physician primarily treats adult patients, and has personally managed and treated at least 1 young adult ALL patient in the past 2 years. Results: The study included results reported by a total of 63 practicing physicians for 189 young adult patients with ALL (62% were aged 25-40 years). Sixty percent (114/189) of young adult patients were treated with a protocol that included asparaginase, and only 29% (55/189) on a pediatric-inspired protocol. The most common protocols reported for patients receiving asparaginase included the pediatric-inspired CALGB 10403 (18%, 21/114), as well as regimens with more limited asparaginase use, including augmented hyper-CVAD (29%, 33/114) and CALGB 8811 (12%, 14/114). Overall 40% (75/189) of young adult patients were treated with protocols that did not include asparaginase, most commonly hyper-CVAD (77%, 58/75). Fifty percent (18/36) of responding physicians using hyper-CVAD reported the perception of similar outcomes with nonasparaginase regimens as with asparaginase-intensive regimens. When questioned about the greatest barrier to the use of intensive asparaginase-containing regimens, 88% (7/8) of responding physicians reported safety and tolerability concerns. Conclusion: Only 6 out of 10 patients in the study were treated with an asparaginase-containing regimen; of all patients, less than 1 out of 3 received a pediatric-inspired regimen. Fifty-three percent (60/114) of asparaginase-receiving patients were treated on a regimen that structures asparaginase dosing intermittently between alternating courses. Pediatric-inspired regimens include intensive asparaginase therapy and have consistently shown improvements in overall survival when compared with traditional adult protocols in clinical trials [Dombret H, et al. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2014;9(2):158-164]. Support: This study was funded by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Disclosures Sender: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Doede:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Hall:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Bernard:Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Muffly ◽  
Frances B Maguire ◽  
Qian Li ◽  
Vanessa Kennedy ◽  
Theresa H Keegan

Abstract Background Knowledge regarding late effects (medical conditions and subsequent neoplasms) in survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is lacking. Methods Using the population-based California Cancer Registry linked with California hospitalization data, we evaluated late effects in 1069 AYAs (aged 15–39 years) diagnosed with ALL in California between 1995 and 2012 and surviving a minimum of 3 years from diagnosis. Results The estimated 10-year cumulative incidence of subsequent endocrine disease (28.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 25.8% to 31.6%) and cardiac disease (17.0%, 95% CI = 14.6% to 19.5%) were strikingly high; avascular necrosis (9.6%, 95% CI = 7.8% to 11.6%), liver disease (6.5%, 95% CI = 5.0% to 8.3%), respiratory disease (6.2%, 95% CI = 4.8% to 8.0%), seizure and/or stroke (4.3%, 95% CI = 3.1% to 5.8%), renal disease (3.1%, 95% CI = 2.1% to 4.4%), and second neoplasms (1.4%, 95% CI = 0.7% to 2.4%) were estimated to occur at 10 years with the reported frequencies. Multivariable analyses including the entire patient cohort demonstrated that public or no insurance (vs private and/or military insurance) and receipt of hematopoietic cell transplantation were independently associated with the occurrence of all late effects considered. In multivariable analyses limited to the 766 AYAs who were not transplanted, we continued to find a statistically significant association between public and no insurance and the occurrence of all late effects. Frontline regimen type (pediatric vs adult) was not statistically significantly associated with any of the late effect categories. Conclusions This large population-based analysis is among the first to describe late effects in survivors of AYA ALL. The strong association between insurance type and late effects suggests that AYAs with public or no insurance may have reduced access to survivorship care following completion of ALL therapy.


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