Cardiovascular Safety of Anagrelide Hydrochloride versus Hydroxyurea in Essential Thrombocythaemia.

Essential thrombocythaemia (ET) is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm. This multicentre, Phase 3b, randomised, open-label, non-inferiority study investigated the cardiac safety, efficacy and tolerability of first-line treatment with anagrelide or hydroxyurea in high-risk ET patients for up to 3 years. Eligible patients aged ≥ 18 years with a diagnosis of high-risk ET confirmed by bone marrow biopsy within 6 months of randomisation received anagrelide (n = 75) or hydroxyurea (n = 74), administered twice daily. Treatment dose for either compound was titrated to the lowest dose needed to achieve a response. Planned primary outcome measures were change in left ventricular ejection fraction from baseline over time and platelet count at Month 6. Planned secondary outcome measures were platelet count change from baseline at Months 3 and 36; percentage of patients with complete or partial response; time to complete or partial response; number of patients with thrombohaemorrhagic events; and changes in white blood cell count or red blood cell count over time. Neither treatment altered cardiac function. There were no significant differences in adverse events between treatment groups, and no reports of malignant transformation. The incidence of disease-related thrombotic or haemorrhagic events was numerically higher in anagrelide-treated patients. Both treatments controlled platelet counts at 6 months, with the majority of patients experiencing complete or partial responses. In conclusion, these results suggest that long-term treatment with anagrelide is not associated with adverse effects on cardiac function. This is one of the few studies using left ventricular ejection fraction assessment and central biopsy reading to confirm the diagnosis of ET.Trial registration number: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00202644.

Leukemic transformation and second cancers in 3649 patients with high-risk essential thrombocythemia in the EXELS study.

EXELS, a post-marketing observational study, is the largest prospective study of high-risk essential thrombocythemia (ET) patients, with an observation time of 5 years. EXELS found higher event rates of acute leukemia transformation in patients treated with hydroxycarbamide (HC). In the current analysis, we report age-adjusted rates of malignant transformation from 3460 EXELS patients exposed to HC, anagrelide (ANA), or both. At registration, 481 patients had ANA treatment without HC exposure, 2305 had HC without ANA exposure, and 674 had been exposed to both. Standard incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated using data from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents database to account for differences in age-, gender-, and country-specific background rates. SIRs for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were high in ET patients. SIRs for AML were high in HC-treated patients, but AML was rare in ANA-treated patients; no cases of AML were found in patients only treated with ANA. No statistically significant difference was seen between SIRs for ANA and HC treatment for AML or skin cancer. SIRs for other cancers were similar in the HC and ANA groups and close to 1, indicating little difference in risk. Although statistically inconclusive, this study strengthens concerns regarding possible leukemogenic risk with HC treatment. (NCT00202644).

Long-Term Mortality and Bone Safety in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease Receiving Lanthanum Carbonate.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This post-marketing observational study assessed the long-term safety of lanthanum carbonate (LaC) in US patients with end-stage renal disease (NCT00567723). METHODS: Patients (≥18 years old) undergoing dialysis, who had Medicare as their primary healthcare payer, and records in the United States Renal Data System were followed-up for 5 years. Patients who had received LaC for at least 12 consecutive weeks formed the exposed cohort. During the same time period, patients who had undergone dialysis for at least 12 consecutive weeks and had been treated with any other phosphate binder formed the primary comparator cohort. A historical cohort was also evaluated. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, and time to and incidence of first bone-fracture event requiring hospitalization. Secondary outcomes were time to first occurrence of and incidence of specific gastrointestinal (GI) disease, liver disease, malignancy, and major infectious episode requiring hospitalization. -Results: 2,026 and 8,094 patients were included in the exposed and primary comparator cohorts, respectively. A Cox proportional hazards model showed that patients receiving LaC were not at increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.94; 95% CI 0.88-1.01; p = 0.078), bone fractures (0.86; 0.71-1.05; p = 0.130), specific GI disease (0.86; 0.76-0.97; p = 0.015), liver disease (0.88; 0.70-1.09; p = 0.236), malignancy (0.85; 0.54-1.34; p = 0.496), or major infectious episodes (0.87; 0.80-0.94; p < 0.001) requiring hospitalization compared with primary comparator patients. CONCLUSIONS: LaC was not associated with increased risk of mortality, bone fractures, or any secondary outcome.

A phase 3b, multicenter, open-label extension study of the long-term safety of anagrelide in Japanese adults with essential thrombocythemia.

Cytoreductive therapy is used in high-risk essential thrombocythemia (ET) to reduce risk of thrombohemorrhagic complications. Anagrelide is an orally active, quinazolone-derived platelet-lowering agent approved for first-line treatment of high-risk ET in Japan. Long-term safety and efficacy data were collected from 53 Japanese high-risk ET patients (Study 308); 41 patients who completed Study 308 entered this phase 3b, open-label extension (Study 309; NCT01467661). Reductions in mean platelet counts occurred throughout the study, from 1021.6 × 109/L (at Study 308 baseline) to 675.4 × 109/L at final assessment. At month 48 (since Study 308 enrollment), mean platelet count was 444.5 × 109/L in the 10 patients who completed 4 years of therapy. Overall, platelet counts decreased from 1088.3 × 109/L at Study 308 baseline (n = 33) to 473.5 × 109/L at final assessment (n = 31). Long-term platelet count reductions were maintained without marked changes in mean anagrelide dose. Anagrelide was generally well tolerated, with anemia (54.7%) and headache (49.1%) as the most frequent adverse events. These findings indicate that anagrelide effectively reduces platelet counts in high-risk Japanese ET patients, with titration resulting in a well-tolerated, effective and sustainable dose. In conclusion, these results support anagrelide administration to high-risk Japanese ET patients using individualized dosing strategies defined in instructions previously approved in Europe and the USA.

Treatment of essential thrombocythemia in Europe: a prospective long-term observational study of 3649 high-risk patients in the Evaluation of Anagrelide Efficacy and Long-term Safety study.

Evaluation of Anagrelide (Xagrid®) Efficacy and Long-term Safety, a phase IV, prospective, non-interventional study performed in 13 European countries enrolled high-risk essential thrombocythemia patients treated with cytoreductive therapy. The primary objectives were safety and pregnancy outcomes. Of 3721 registered patients, 3649 received cytoreductive therapy. At registration, 3611 were receiving: anagrelide (Xagrid®) (n=804), other cytoreductive therapy (n=2666), or anagrelide + other cytoreductive therapy (n=141). The median age was 56 vs. 70 years for anagrelide vs. other cytoreductive therapy. Event rates (patients with events/100 patient-years) were 1.62 vs. 2.06 for total thrombosis and 0.15 vs. 0.53 for venous thrombosis. Anagrelide was more commonly associated with hemorrhage (0.89 vs. 0.43), especially with anti-aggregatory therapy (1.35 vs. 0.33) and myelofibrosis (1.04 vs. 0.30). Other cytoreductive therapies were more associated with acute leukemia (0.28 vs. 0.07) and other malignancies (1.29 vs. 0.44). Post hoc multivariate analyses identified increased risk for thrombosis with prior thrombohemorrhagic events, age ≥65, cardiovascular risk factors, or hypertension. Risk factors for transformation were prior thrombohemorrhagic events, age ≥65, time since diagnosis, and platelet count increase. Safety analysis reflected published data, and no new safety concerns for anagrelide were found. Live births occurred in 41/54 pregnancies (76%). clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: 00567502.

Impact of JAK2(V617F) mutation status on treatment response to anagrelide in essential thrombocythemia: an observational, hypothesis-generating study.

A JAK2(V617F) mutation is found in approximately 55% of patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET), and represents a key World Health Organization diagnostic criterion. This hypothesis-generating study (NCT01352585) explored the impact of JAK2(V617F) mutation status on treatment response to anagrelide in patients with ET who were intolerant/refractory to their current cytoreductive therapy. The primary objective was to compare the proportion of JAK2-positive versus JAK2-negative patients who achieved at least a partial platelet response (≤600×10(9)/L) after anagrelide therapy. Of the 47 patients enrolled, 46 were included in the full analysis set (JAK2-positive, n=22; JAK2-negative, n=24). At 12 months, 35 patients (n=14 and n=21, respectively) had a suitable platelet sample; of these, 74.3% (n=26) achieved at least a partial response. The response rate was higher in JAK2-positive (85.7%, n=12) versus JAK2-negative patients (66.7%, n=14) (odds ratio [OR] 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.44, 33.97). By using the last observation carried forward approach in the sensitivity analysis, which considered the imbalance in patients with suitable samples between groups, the overall response rate was 71.7% (n=33/46), with 77.3% (n=17/22) of JAK2-positive and 66.7% (n=16/24) of JAK2-negative patients achieving at least a partial response (OR 1.70; 95% CI 0.39, 8.02). There was no significant change in median allele burden over 12 months in the 12 patients who achieved a response. In conclusion, the overall platelet response rate was high in both JAK2-positive and JAK2-negative patients; however, a larger study would be required to confirm the differences observed according to JAK2(V617F) mutation status.

Phase III, single-arm study investigating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of anagrelide as a second-line treatment in high-risk Japanese patients with essential thrombocythemia.

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is usually managed by anti-platelet therapy. European guidelines recommend that patients with ET at high risk of developing thrombohemorrhagic events should be placed on cytoreductive therapy (CRT). In Japan, hydroxycarbamide (HC) is the most widely used CRT; however, treatment options for patients who become intolerant or refractory to initial treatment are limited. This study sought to determine the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of anagrelide in high-risk Japanese adults with ET who were intolerant or refractory to their first-line CRT. Fifty-three patients were enrolled in the study. Of those, 67.9 % had a platelet response (<60 × 10(4)/µL) and 45.3 % achieved normalization of platelet counts (≤40 × 10(4)/µL) on anagrelide therapy. The median time to platelet count response was 98.5 days and the median time to platelet count normalization was 274.0 days. The median daily dose administered was 1.9 mg/day. The most common adverse events observed during anagrelide treatment were anemia, headache, palpitations, and diarrhea. The majority of these were either mild or moderate in severity. Overall, the safety profile of anagrelide in high-risk Japanese patients with ET was consistent with the European Summary of Product Characteristics.