Experiences with health care and health-related quality of life of patients with hematologic malignancies in Mexico.

BACKGROUND: In Mexico, patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs) are characterized by being at high risk and advanced stages at diagnosis and by having a low cure rate; yet information on their experiences with health care and health-related quality of life (HRQL) is scarce. We aimed to evaluate experiences with health care and HRQL of patients with HMs and the association between these patient-reported measures. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in two public oncology hospitals in Mexico City. The study included outpatient cancer patients aged ≥18 years with a diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma. We used a patient-centered quality of cancer care questionnaire to assess patient experiences with receiving 1) timely care; 2) clear information; 3) information for treatment decision-making; 4) care to address biopsychosocial needs; and 5) respectful and coordinated care. We applied the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) to measure HRQL. We performed a multiple linear regression to evaluate the association between patient-reported experiences (independent variables) and the QLQ-C30 summary score (dependent variable). RESULTS: Of the 515 participating HM patients, 46.6% had lymphoma, 34% leukemia, and 19.4% multiple myeloma; 70.9% were at advanced stages or at high risk. Additionally, 15.1% had anxiety and 12.8% had depression. Over one third (35.9%) reported receiving clear information, 28.5% timely care, 20.6% information for treatment decision-making, 23.7% care that addressed their biopsychosocial needs, and 31% respectful and coordinated care. The mean QLQ-C30 summary score was 71.9 points. Timely care, clear information, and care that addresses biopsychosocial needs were associated with higher HRQL. CONCLUSIONS: Health care services for HM patients at public oncology hospitals in Mexico need improvement. Notably, providing timely care, clear information, and care that addresses patients' biopsychosocial needs can increase the likelihood of better HRQL. Health care providers should measure and improve the experiences of HM patients with health care.

Long-term efficacy and safety results of taliglucerase alfa through 5years in adult treatment-naïve patients with Gaucher disease.

Taliglucerase alfa, the first available plant cell-expressed recombinant therapeutic protein, is an enzyme replacement therapy approved for Gaucher disease (GD). PB-06-001, a pivotal phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-dose study investigated taliglucerase alfa 30 or 60U/kg every other week through 9months in treatment-naïve adults with GD; 30-month extension study PB-06-003 followed. Patients completing PB-06-001 and PB-06-003 could continue treatment in PB-06-007. Nineteen patients enrolled in PB-06-007 (30U/kg, n=8; 60U/kg, n=9; dose adjusted, n=2); 17 completed 5 total years of treatment. In these 3 groups, respectively, taliglucerase alfa resulted in mean decreases in spleen volume (-8.7, -6.9, -12.4 multiples of normal), liver volume (-0.6, -0.4, -0.5 multiples of normal), chitotriosidase activity (-83.1%, -93.4%, -87.9%), and chemokine (CC motif) ligand 18 concentration (-66.7%, -83.3%, -78.9%), as well as mean increases in hemoglobin concentration (+2.1, +2.1, +1.8mg/dL) and platelet count (+31,871, +106,800, +34,000/mm3). The most common adverse events were nasopharyngitis and arthralgia. Most adverse events were mild/moderate; no serious adverse events were considered treatment-related. These results demonstrate continued improvement of disease parameters during 5years of taliglucerase alfa therapy in 17 treatment-naive patients with no new safety concerns, extending the taliglucerase alfa clinical efficacy and safety dataset. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01422187.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Mexico: The Specific Challenges of a Developing Country. Results From a Multicenter National Registry.

BACKGROUND: In the past decades, long-term survival outcomes for younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have improved. Nonetheless, developing nations might be lagging behind, highlighting the need to assess real-world outcomes in such regions. METHODS: We performed a multicenter retrospective study, which included patients with AML diagnosed between January 2013 and December 2017 from 13 centers in Mexico. RESULTS: A total of 525 patients with AML met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Median age for the entire cohort was 47 years. The patients were classified according to cytogenetic risk: favorable 16.0%, intermediate 55.6%, and unfavorable 28.4%. Most patients received intensive chemotherapy (80.2%), and among these 74.1% underwent a 7 + 3 induction regimen. A complete remission was achieved in 71.3% of patients. Induction-related mortality occurred in 17.8% and we identify the following as independent risk factors: >60 years (odds ratio [OR] 2.09 [1.09-4.02]), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group >2 (OR 4.82 [2.46-9.43]), prior solid tumor (OR 3.8 [1.24-11.59]) and active infection (OR 1.82 [1.06-3.12]). Further, allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AlloHSCT) was performed in 8.2% in CR1. The 3-year overall survival (OS) was 34.8%. In a multivariate analysis, several factors were independently associated with a worse OS, including secondary AML (hazard ratio [HR] 2.14 [1.15-4.01]) and unfavorable cytogenetic risk (HR 1.81 [1.16-2.82]), whereas maintenance therapy (HR 0.53 [0.32-0.86]) and AlloHSCT (HR 0.40 [0.17-0.94]) were associated with better OS. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first multicenter report analyzing AML survival in Mexico. Challenges in this setting include a high induction-related mortality and low AlloHSCT rate, which should be addressed to improve outcomes.

[High-intensity chemotherapy versus palliative chemotherapy in patients over 60 years with acute myeloid leukemia]. / Quimioterapia intensa frente a quimioterapia paliativa en pacientes con leucemia mieloblástica mayores de 60 años.

BACKGROUND: The use of high-intensity chemotherapy (HIC) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the elderly is controversial. In the present study, it was assessed complete remission and overall survival of AML patients over 60 years treated with HIC or palliative chemotherapy. METHODS: Patients with ECOG ≤ 2 and adequate organic function received HIC with a base of cytarabine for five or seven days, and an anthracycline for three days. If patients achieved complete remission of leukemia, they received one or two cycles of consolidation with cytarabine. Palliative treatment consisted of supported measures and/or oral or intravenous low-dose chemotherapy. RESULTS: Seven patients treated with HIC achieved complete remission versus only one in the palliative group. Only one patient died during HIC treatment. Median survival for HIC-treated patients was 13.25 months, and only 3.35 months for patients treated with palliative therapy (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: AML patients of 60 years or older, with good performance status (ECOG ≤ 2) and adequate organ function, may benefit from HIC treatment, with better survival, compared with palliative therapy.

Introducción: el tratamiento con quimioterapia intensa (QTI) en pacientes con leucemia mieloblástica (LMA) mayores de 60 años es controversial. En el presente estudio se evaluó la remisión completa y la supervivencia global de pacientes con LMA mayores de 60 años, tratados con QTI o quimioterapia paliativa. Métodos: los pacientes con adecuada función orgánica y ECOG ≤ 2 recibieron QTI a base de citarabina por cinco o siete días más un antracíclico por tres días y terapia de soporte. En caso de lograr remisión completa de la leucemia recibieron uno o dos ciclos de consolidación con citarabina. El tratamiento paliativo consistió en medidas de soporte o quimioterapia oral o intravenosa en dosis bajas. Resultados: del grupo de QTI siete pacientes alcanzaron remisión completa, comparados con uno del grupo de quimioterapia paliativa. La supervivencia global fue de 13.25 meses para los pacientes con QTI y de 3.35 meses para los pacientes de quimioterapia paliativa (p < 0.05). Conclusión: es posible que los pacientes con LMA mayores de 60 años de edad se beneficien de recibir QTI, comparada con la quimioterapia paliativa.

[Acute myeloblastic leukemia (M5) and aspergilloma in a 75-year-old man]. / Hombre de 75 años de edad con leucemia ieloblástica aguda M5 y aspergiloma. Informe de un caso.

We report here a case of pulmonary aspergilloma in a patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia. We present the clinical and radiological characteristics of this case. Aspergillus flavus was isolated. The antifungal treatment was unsuccessful. Pulmonary aspergillomas are associated with a high mortality in the immunocompromised host. It is important to know the diagnostic approach and the surgical and medical treatment of this disease.