US cost-effectiveness analysis of polatuzumab vedotin in previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

AIMS: We evaluated the pharmacoeconomic value of polatuzumab vedotin plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (Pola-R-CHP) in previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) versus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 3-state partitioned survival model was used to estimate life years (LYs), quality-adjusted LYs (QALYs), and cost impacts of Pola-R-CHP versus R-CHOP. Analyses utilized mixture-cure survival modelling, assessed a lifetime horizon, discounted all outcomes at 3% per year, and examined both payer and societal perspectives. Progression-free survival, overall survival (OS), drug utilization, treatment duration, adverse reactions, and subsequent treatment inputs were based on data from the POLARIX study (NCT03274492). Costs included drug acquisition/administration, adverse reaction management, routine care, subsequent treatments, end-of-life care, and work productivity. RESULTS: Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of Pola-R-CHP versus R-CHOP were $70,719/QALY gained and $88,855/QALY gained from societal and payer perspectives, respectively. The $32,824 higher total cost of Pola-R-CHP versus R-CHOP was largely due to higher drug costs ($122,525 vs $27,694), with cost offsets including subsequent treatment (-$52,765), routine care (-$1,781), end-of-life care (-$383), and work productivity (-$8,418). Pola-R-CHP resulted in an increase of 0.47 LYs and 0.46 QALYs versus R-CHOP. Pola-R-CHP was cost-effective in 60.9% and 58.0% of simulations at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $150,000/QALY gained from societal and payer perspectives, respectively. LIMITATIONS: There was uncertainty around the OS extrapolation in the model, and costs were derived from different sources. Recommended prophylactic medications were not included; prophylactic use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for all patients was assumed to be equal across treatment arms in POLARIX. Work productivity loss was estimated from a general population and was not specific to patients with DLBCL. CONCLUSION: Pola-R-CHP was projected to be cost-effective versus R-CHOP in previously untreated DLBCL, suggesting that Pola-R-CHP represents good value relative to R-CHOP in this setting.

Assessment of thyme honey oral gel for the prevention of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Oral mucositis (OM) is a common complication of cancer treatment that has an impact on a patient's quality of life and the outcome of cancer therapy. This trial evaluated the effect of thyme honey oral gel for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced OM. METHODS: One hundred ten breast cancer patients who received their first cycle of chemotherapy with adriamycin (60 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2) were randomly recruited into two groups: group A were patients who followed general oral hygiene recommendations and rinsing saline 3 times a day, and group B were patients with similar protocol but supplied with our formulated oral gel to be applied 2 to 4 times a day. Patients were assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) oral mucositis grading scales and self-assessment daily questionnaire. RESULTS: The use of thyme honey was associated with diminishing incidence of OM grade ≥ 2 (95% CI, 0.12 to 0.90; P = 0.030), duration of OM (- 3.36 days; 95% CI, - 5.50 to - 1.22; P = 0.037) and delayed occurrence of OM grade ≥ 2 (95% CI, 0.10 to 0.80; P = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Thyme honey can be considered as a prophylactic agent for OM and decrease the severity of its symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATIONS: This protocol was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: registration number IRCT201506063106N25, on June 12, 2015; approved by the institutional review board at the Deputy of Research, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran; and approved by the Ethics Committee of Medical Researches of Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran-reference number 5936, on August 17, 2014.

Belimumabe intravenoso para o tratamento adjuvante de pacientes adultos com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico com alto grau de atividade apesar da terapia padrão e que apresentem falha terapêutica a dois imunossupressores prévios / Intravenous belimumab for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus with a high degree of activity despite standard therapy and who experience treatment failure in two cases previous immunosuppressants

INTRODUÇÃO: O lúpus eritematoso sistêmico (LES) é uma doença autoimune multissistêmica crônica, que apresenta características polimórficas, com destaque para sintomas constitucionais, erupção cutânea e artrite. Também pode levar a complicações graves, como nefrite lúpica, citopenias autoimunes e doenças do sistema nervoso. Além da atividade de doença, o uso contínuo de corticoide em altas doses é associado a maiores danos acumulados e óbitos. O objetivo do tratamento é controlar a atividade da doença e evitar o surgimento de fatores de risco para complicações,sendo utilizados medicamentos como antimaláricos, corticoides e imunossupressores. Após a remissão clínica, recomenda-se a redução gradual das doses dos medicamentos, mantendo o uso da hidroxicloroquina. RECOMENDAÇÕES ANTERIORES DA CONITEC: Em 2018, o Plenário da Conitec deliberou por unanimidade pela não incorporação do belimumabe para o tratamento de LES no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), conforme Relatório de Recomendação nº 344. Na ocasião, a pergunta de pesquisa se diferiu em relação aos desfechos e tipo de estudo, considerando-se apenas a melhora no Systemic Lupus Erythemathosus Response Index (SRI) e meta-análises de ensaios clínicos randomizados (ECRs), respectivamente. A

Risk of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia in intermediate-risk regimens: Clinical and economic outcomes of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia increases the risk of febrile neutropenia (FN) and infection with resultant hospitalizations, with substantial health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is recommended as primary prophylaxis for chemotherapy regimens having more than a 20% risk of FN. Yet, for intermediate-risk (10%-20%) regimens, it should be considered only for patients with 1 or more clinical risk factors (RFs) for FN. It is unclear whether FN prophylaxis for intermediate-risk patients is being optimally implemented. OBJECTIVE: To examine RFs, prophylaxis use, HCRU, and costs associated with incident FN during chemotherapy. METHODS: This retrospective study used administrative claims data for commercial and Medicare Advantage enrollees with nonmyeloid cancer treated with intermediate-risk chemotherapy regimens during January 1, 2009, to March 31, 2020. Clinical RFs, GCSF prophylaxis, incident FN, HCRU, and costs were analyzed descriptively by receipt of primary GCSF, secondary GCSF, or no GCSF prophylaxis. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to examine the association between number of RFs and cumulative FN risk. RESULTS: The sample comprised 13,937 patients (mean age 67 years, 55% female). Patients had a mean of 2.3 RFs, the most common being recent surgery, were aged 65 years or greater, and had baseline liver or renal dysfunction; 98% had 1 or more RFs. However, only 35% of patients received primary prophylaxis; 12% received secondary prophylaxis. The hazard ratio of incident FN was higher with increasing number of RFs during the first line of therapy, yet more than 54% of patients received no prophylaxis, regardless of RFs. Use of GCSF prophylaxis varied more by chemotherapeutic regimen than by number of RFs. Among patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin hydrochloride (doxorubicin hydrochloride), vincristine, and prednisone, 76% received primary prophylaxis, whereas only 22% of patients treated with carboplatin/paclitaxel received primary prophylaxis. Among patients with a first line of therapy FN event, 78% had an inpatient stay and 42% had an emergency visit. During cycle 1, mean FN-related coordination of benefits-adjusted medical costs per patient per month ($13,886 for patients with primary prophylaxis and $18,233 for those with none) were driven by inpatient hospitalizations, at 91% and 97%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Incident FN occurred more often with increasing numbers of RFs, but GCSF prophylaxis use did not rise correspondingly. Variation in prophylaxis use was greater based on regimen than RF number. Lower health care costs were observed among patients with primary prophylaxis use. Improved individual risk identification for intermediate-risk regimens and appropriate prophylaxis may decrease FN events toward the goal of better clinical and health care cost outcomes. DISCLOSURES: This work was funded by Sandoz Inc., which participated in the design of the study, interpretation of the data, writing and revision of the manuscript, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The study was performed by Optum under contract with Sandoz Inc. The author(s) meet criteria for authorship as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The authors received no direct compensation related to the development of the manuscript. Dr Li is an employee of Sandoz Inc. Drs Bell and Lal and Mr Peterson-Brandt were employees of Optum at the time of the study. Ms Anderson and Dr Aslam are employees of Optum. Dr Lyman has been primary investigator on a research grant from Amgen to their institution and has consulted for Sandoz, G1 Therapeutics, Partners Healthcare, BeyondSpring, ER Squibb, Merck, Jazz Pharm, Kallyope, Teva; Fresenius Kabi, Seattle Genetics, and Samsung.

Cost-effectiveness of polatuzumab vedotin combined with chemoimmunotherapy in untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

In patients with treatment-naive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the POLARIX study (A Study Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Polatuzumab Vedotin With Rituximab-Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, and Prednisone [R-CHP] Versus Rituximab-Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone [R-CHOP] in Participants With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma) reported a 6.5% improvement in the 2-year progression-free survival (PFS), with no difference in overall survival (OS) or safety using polatuzumab vedotin, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (pola-R-CHP) compared with standard rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of pola-R-CHP for DLBCL. We modeled a hypothetical cohort of US adults (mean age, 65 years) with treatment-naive DLBCL by developing a Markov model (lifetime horizon) to model the cost-effectiveness of pola-R-CHP and R-CHOP using a range of plausible long-term outcomes. Progression rates and OS were estimated from POLARIX. Outcome measures were reported in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, with a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $150 000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Assuming a 5-year PFS of 69.6% with pola-R-CHP and 62.7% with R-CHOP, pola-R-CHP was cost-effective at a WTP of $150 000 (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, $84 308/QALY). pola-R-CHP was no longer cost-effective if its 5-year PFS was 66.1% or lower. One-way sensitivity analysis revealed that pola-R-CHP is cost-effective up to a cost of $276 312 at a WTP of $150 000. pola-R-CHP was the cost-effective strategy in 56.6% of the 10 000 Monte Carlo iterations at a WTP of $150 000. If the absolute benefit in PFS is maintained over time, pola-R-CHP is cost-effective compared with R-CHOP at a WTP of $150 000/QALY. However, its cost-effectiveness is highly dependent on its long-term outcomes and costs of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. Routine usage of pola-R-CHP would add significantly to health care expenditures. Price reductions or identification of subgroups that have maximal benefit would improve cost-effectiveness.

Cost-effectiveness of cyclophosphamide and non-cyclophosphamide in the induction therapy of Malaysian lupus nephritis patients.

BACKGROUND: There is a paradigm shift in the induction therapy for proliferative lupus nephritis (LN). Apart from cyclophosphamide (CYC), mycophenolate mofetil and calcineurin inhibitors have emerged as an alternative option of treatment. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) per year, adverse events and renal damage at 24 months between CYC and non-CYC agents (calcineurin inhibitors or mycophenolate) as induction treatment among proliferative lupus nephritis (LN) patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective and non-controlled study involving biopsy-proven proliferative LN patients (class III or IV with or without V) in the clinic registry from 2017 to 2019. Their medical records were reviewed to determine the date and type of induction, treatment effectiveness, adverse events and renal damage at 24 months. The total cost of treatment included capital cost (building, furniture and equipment) and recurrent cost (emolument, supply/drug, lab investigations, administrative cost and utilities). Treatment effectiveness was defined as renal remission (partial or complete) at 6 months without relapse up to 24 months. The cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was expressed as cost per remission per year in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). RESULTS: There were a total of 95 inductions with CYC and 27 with non-CYC in 94 LN patients. There was no significant difference in the total mean cost per patient/year between CYC (MYR 18460.26 ± 6500.76) compared to non-CYC (MYR 19302.10 ± 6778.22), p = 0.569. The CEA for CYC was MYR 20,632.06 (GBP 3,538.78) while non-CYC was MYR 20,846.27 (GBP 3,575.52) and mean difference MYR 214.21 (GBP 37.44). There was significantly higher capital cost, consumables, utility, maintenance, administration (p < 0.001) and lab investigations (p = 0.046) in the CYC arm. There was a trend of a higher infection requiring outpatient antibiotic treatment in CYC group (p = 0.05), but similar renal damage outcome with the non-CYC group.Conclusion: For treatment of proliferative LN, there was no significant difference in the CEA and renal damage between CYC and non-CYC induction treatment. There was a trend of a higher rate of infections in the CYC group. Hence, the decision to treat patient with CYC or MMF should be tailored to individual patients, by considering the risk of infection in a particular patient.

Anemia requiring transfusion in breast cancer patients on dose-dense chemotherapy: Prevalence, risk factors, cost and effect on disease outcome.

PURPOSE: Dose-dense chemotherapy improves survival but with increased toxicity and treatment-related cost. We report the prevalence of anemia and the possible risk factors associated with chemotherapy-related anemia and determine the cost and time-delay associated with transfusion requirement in Indian patients with non-metastatic breast cancer on dose-dense preoperative chemotherapy. METHODS: In this study, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients were treated preoperatively with docetaxel and cyclophosphamide alternating with epirubicin and cisplatin every 2 weeks. Patients were evaluated for anemia pre- and post-chemotherapy. We examined trends in the red cell indices, transfusion requirement, time to transfusion, as well as risk factors associated with transfusion during treatment, along with delay in treatment due to anemia and the additional cost incurred. RESULTS: A total of 116 consecutive women with nonmetastatic TNBC were treated with preoperative chemotherapy. The median age was 44.5 years. 56.1% of patients had stage III disease. Anemia was detected at baseline in 54 (46.5%) patients with mild anemia (10-12 g/dl) in 42 (36.2%) patients and moderate anemia (8-10 g/dl) in 12 (10.3%) patients. During the course of treatment, all patients developed anemia. A total of 44 patients (37.9%) required transfusion during chemotherapy, with 55(47.4%) patients developing grade 1-2 anemia and 40 (34.5%) patients developing grade 3 anemia. The factors associated with anemia requiring transfusion were a steeper decline in hemoglobin after two cycles (OR 1.65, p = 0.02), low-grade tumor (OR 2.48, p = 0.03), and thrombocytopenia grade 3 or 4 (OR 4.35, p = 0.034), of which tumor grade and thrombocytopenia remained significant in multivariate analysis. Nearly one-fourth of the study population had a delay between two cycles of chemotherapy due to anemia. A median additional cost of INR 7000 was incurred among those requiring blood transfusion. CONCLUSION: Anemia is a common toxicity associated with dose-dense chemotherapy during curative breast cancer treatment leading to delay in treatment and increased cost. Low-grade tumor, grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia, and grade 2 or higher anemia after two cycles of chemotherapy are risk factors for blood transfusions during treatment.

Conversion to supportive care with biosimilar pegfilgrastim-cbqv enables budget-neutral expanded access to R-CHOP treatment in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

This pharmacoeconomic simulation (1) assessed the cost-efficiency of converting a panel of 20,000 patients at risk of chemotherapy-induced (febrile) neutropenia (CIN/FN) from reference pegfilgrastim to biosimilar pegfilgrastim-cbqv; (2) estimated how savings can be used to provide budget-neutral expanded access to R-CHOP therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients; and 3) determined the number-needed-to-convert (NNC) to purchase one additional dose of R-CHOP (US payer perspective). Model inputs included biosimilar conversion from pre-filled syringe [PFS] or on-body injector [OBI] reference pegfilgrastim; age-proportional blended costs for reference pegfilgrastim PFS and OBI, pegfilgrastim-cbqv and R-CHOP; medication administration costs; biosimilar conversion rates of 10-100 %; and 1-6 cycles of prophylaxis. Cost-savings were used to estimate the number of doses of R-CHOP that could be purchased and the NNC to purchase one additional dose. Converting a panel of 20,000 patients requiring CIN/FN prophylaxis to biosimilar pegfilgrastim-cbqv from a low of 1 cycle and 10 % conversion to a high of 6 cycles and 100 % conversion yielded savings from $1,567,195 to $96,668,126. The budget-neutral acquisition of R-CHOP doses afforded by these savings ranged from 227 to 13,999 doses, the latter enabling 2333 patients to receive 6 cycles of R-CHOP treatment with no additional cost to the payer. These results are achieved if all 20,000 panel patients requiring GCSF support are prophylacted with biosimilar pegfilgrastim-cbqv for 6 cycles, yielding an NNC of 1.43 patients per additional R-CHOP dose. This simulation underscores the clinic-economic benefit of prophylaxis with biosimilar growth factor and pegfilgrastim-cbqv specifically.

Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus with trisomy X and the increased risk for bone complications: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a multi-organ inflammatory autoimmune disease; immune complexes are part of the pathogenesis, but not entirely responsible. Trisomy X is the most common female chromosomal abnormality and the role of an additional X chromosome in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus is well recognized. However, the potential complications and optimal management of childhood lupus with trisomy X remain unclear. Herein, we describe a case of childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus associated with severe bone complications presumably secondary to trisomy X. CASE PRESENTATION: A 16-year-old Japanese girl was diagnosed with childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus and trisomy X. A chromosomal abnormality (47, XXX) was incidentally identified on bone marrow examination initially done to determine the cause of pancytopenia. She had a persistent headache, fever　for six days, diffuse hair loss, mucosal ulcers, butterfly eruptions, and palmar erythema. Furthermore, thrombocytopenia, anemia, and erythrocyte fragmentation were detected, suggesting secondary thrombotic microangiopathy. She was initially treated with intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy and prescribed monthly cyclophosphamide for severe disease activity, prednisolone, mycophenolate mofetil, and hydroxychloroquine as remission maintenance drugs. She developed generalized extremity pain that had been worsening throughout the disease. Extremity magnetic resonance imaging performed 12 months after the treatment onset revealed multifocal avascular necrosis, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry revealed further decreased bone mineral density. High plasma levels of factor VIII were detected by additional tests for coagulation functions, and we suspected the possibility that factor VIII might cause avascular necrosis due to thrombosis. Currently, she is being treated with prednisolone and MMF for SLE. However, her extremity pain has not been managed effectively even under the administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and pregabalin. CONCLUSIONS: An additional X chromosome has been reported to be associated with factor VIII and osteoporosis. Additionally, elevated plasma levels of FVIII is the risk factors for thrombosis, which leads to the risk of avascular necrosis. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by trisomy X might be at a higher risk of avascular necrosis and osteoporosis that can also manifest in childhood systemic lupus erythematosus.

Adverse Events and Economic Burden Among Patients Receiving Systemic Treatment for Mantle Cell Lymphoma: A Real-World Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Limited published real-world data describe adverse events (AEs) among patients treated for mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL). The aim of this retrospective study was to describe treatment patterns, AEs, and associated healthcare costs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients had two or more claims coded for MCL diagnosis, the first claim date (07/01/2012-05/31/2017) was the index date. Patients with pre-index MCL diagnosis or systemic treatment, or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were excluded. Cohorts by regimen were followed for up to three lines of therapy. RESULTS: Patients (n=395; median age 72 years; 31% female) were observed over a total of 576 lines of therapy, the most common being bendamustine plus rituximab; rituximab monotherapy; R-CHOP; and ibrutinib. The most frequent AEs were hypertension (40.5%), anemia (37.7%), and infection (36.1%). However, hepatotoxicity ($19,645), stroke ($18,893), and renal failure ($9,037) were associated with the highest medical costs per patient per month. CONCLUSION: Among patients receiving common systemic treatments for MCL, AEs occurred frequently; some imposed substantial inpatient care costs.

Safety and financial analysis of outpatient dose-adjusted EPOCH for B-cell lymphoma at a tertiary comprehensive cancer center.

INTRODUCTION: Dose-adjusted (DA-) EPOCH (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin) is a front-line treatment option for aggressive B-cell lymphomas. Due to regimen complexity, inpatient administration of DA-EPOCH has been historically required. Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) developed an Inpatient/Outpatient (IPOP) program to facilitate administration of complicated regimens in the outpatient setting. We hypothesized that outpatient administration of DA-EPOCH at a comprehensive cancer center is both safe and cost-effective. METHODS: We conducted a single-center, retrospective chart review including B-cell lymphoma patients who were 18 years or older and who had received DA-EPOCH at MCC from April 26, 2017 through August 10, 2019. The primary endpoint was hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy administration. Additional safety endpoints included hospitalizations between cycles, infectious complications, extravasations, drug spills, pump-malfunctions, and drug-related adverse events. Financial analysis included drug cost, resource utilization, and impact of hospital bed backfill. RESULTS: 56 patients received 219 cycles of DA-EPOCH with 193 cycles administered outpatient. Zero patients required hospitalization during outpatient administration of DA-EPOCH, resulting in 965 saved hospital days. 23 patients (41%) were hospitalized between cycles, most commonly due to neutropenic fever (52%). No extravasations were documented throughout the study period. There were few incidences of drug spills or pump malfunctions. Based on current regimen utilization, the annual transition of 84 cycles of DA-EPOCH to the outpatient setting has a positive impact on margin of $1,444,548. CONCLUSIONS: Routine outpatient administration of DA-EPOCH is both safe and feasible with a positive annual impact on margin of $1,444,548 at a comprehensive cancer center.

Outcomes of treatment with CHOP and EPOCH in patients with HIV associated NHL in a low resource setting.

BACKGROUND: The optimal chemotherapy regimen for treating HIV associated NHL in low resource settings is unknown. We conducted a retrospective study to describe survival rates, treatment response rates and adverse events in patients with HIV associated NHL treated with CHOP and dose adjusted-EPOCH regimens at the Uganda Cancer Institute. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients diagnosed with HIV and lymphoma and treated at the Uganda Cancer Institute from 2016 to 2018 was done. RESULTS: One hundred eight patients treated with CHOP and 12 patients treated with DA-EPOCH were analysed. Patients completing 6 or more cycles of chemotherapy were 51 (47%) in the CHOP group and 8 (67%) in the DA-EPOCH group. One year overall survival (OS) rate in patients treated with CHOP was 54.5% (95% CI, 42.8-64.8) and 80.2% (95% CI, 40.3-94.8) in those treated with DA-EPOCH. Factors associated with favourable survival were BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2, (p = 0.03) and completion of 6 or more cycles of chemotherapy, (p < 0.001). The overall response rate was 40% in the CHOP group and 59% in the DA-EPOCH group. Severe adverse events occurred in 19 (18%) patients in the CHOP group and 3 (25%) in the DA-EPOCH group; these were neutropenia (CHOP = 13, 12%; DA-EPOCH = 2, 17%), anaemia (CHOP = 12, 12%; DA-EPOCH = 1, 8%), thrombocytopenia (CHOP = 7, 6%; DA-EPOCH = 0), sepsis (CHOP = 1), treatment related death (DA-EPOCH = 1) and hepatic encephalopathy (CHOP = 1). CONCLUSION: Treatment of HIV associated NHL with curative intent using CHOP and infusional DA-EPOCH is feasible in low resource settings and associated with > 50% 1 year survival.

Assessment of ovarian reserve by serum anti-Müllerian hormone in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune and cyclophosphamide (CYC) is often used in the therapy of SLE. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is expressed in the ovarian granulosa cells and is a reliable biomarker for ovarian reserve. Recent studies have showed that SLE patients have lower serum AMH levels and CYC has a negative influence on ovarian reserve. But the results are conflicting in other studies. The objective of our study is to perform a systemic review and metaanalysis to confirm the relationship between SLE and ovarian reserve reflected by serum AMH levels as well as the effect of CYC on ovarian reserve of SLE patients. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, CHINESE WANFANG, China Science and Technology Database (VIP) databases were searched for eligible studies by two independent authors. Studies comparing serum AMH levels between SLE patients and healthy controls as well as serum AMH levels between SLE patients with and without the treatment of CYC were extracted. All statistical analyses were performed with STATA 12.0. RESULTS: Totally 19 studies including 1,272 SLE patients and 555 healthy controls were included in our study. In a comparison of serum AMH levels between SLE patients and healthy controls, the pooled SMD was -0.79 (95% CI, -1.41 to -0.18) (P<0.05), indicating a significantly lower serum level of AMH in SLE patients. The results were repeated in subgroup analyses by region, diagnostic criteria of SLE and AMH detection methods. The therapy of CYC in SLE patients had a negative influence on serum AMH levels with the pooled SMD of -0.58 (95% CI, -0.87 to -0.30) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: SLE is related to increased risk of decreased ovarian reserve and the treatment of CYC can do harm to ovarian reserve.

Outcomes of bendamustine- or cyclophosphamide-based first-line chemotherapy in older patients with indolent B-cell lymphoma.

Clinical trials comparing bendamustine/rituximab (BR) with cyclophosphamide-based regimens (RCHOP/RCVP) have pooled various histologies of indolent B-cell lymphomas. We examined real-life outcomes of older patients with follicular (FL), mantle cell (MCL), or marginal zone/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (MZL/LPL), treated with these first-line regimens. We identified Medicare beneficiaries with FL, MCL, or MZL/LPL, who received either first-line BR or RCHOP/RCVP in 2009-2016, and matched groups using a propensity score. Outcomes of claims-based event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), toxicity, secondary cancers, and costs were compared in the aggregate cohort (N = 2736), and in separately matched histology-specific subcohorts. In the aggregate cohort, EFS was better with BR than with RCHOP/RCVP (hazard ratio [HR], 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70-0.87). Acute toxicity was lower with BR, including rates of hospitalizations (33% vs 45%), infections (21% vs 30%), cardiovascular events, and transfusions, yet OS did not differ (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.91-1.17) and Medicare spending was higher. There was no difference in the cumulative incidence of secondary cancers (subhazard ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.83-1.48). The EFS advantage of BR was pronounced in MCL (N = 690; HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.54-0.76), but less so in FL (N = 1330; HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.69-0.98) and absent in MZL/LPL (N = 574; HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.73-1.17). Despite improved EFS and lower toxicity, the shift from RCHOP/RCVP to BR in clinical practice did not improve OS for older patients with indolent B-cell lymphomas. Frequent infections and hospitalizations underscore the need for safer treatment approaches in this population. Secondary cancers do not appear to be increased after BR compared with RCHOP/RCVP.

Treatment patterns, adverse events, healthcare resource use and costs among commercially insured patients with mantle cell lymphoma in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: There are limited data on treatment patterns, adverse events (AEs), and economic burden in younger, commercially insured patients treated for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). METHODS: Adults with ≥1 treatment for MCL between 1 November 2013-31 December 2017 were identified from IQVIA Real-World Data Adjudicated Claims-US; index date was first treatment. Patients carried ≥1 MCL diagnosis, were newly treated, and were enrolled continuously for ≥12 months prior to and ≥30 days following index. Patients receiving the four most common MCL regimens were included. Measures included frequency of incident AEs, resource use, and costs overall and by number of AEs. Adjusted logistic regression and generalized linear modeling evaluated risk of hospitalization and all-cause costs per patient per month (PPPM). RESULTS: Two thousand five hundred and nine treated patients had a drug-specific code and were classified to a specific treatment regimen. Of those patients, 1785 patients received at least one of the four most commonly used MCL regimens (R-CHOP, rituximab monotherapy, B-R, and ibrutinib) at some point over follow-up (median 23 months). R-CHOP was the most common regimen observed in the first line (26%), followed by rituximab monotherapy (19%), B-R (15%), and ibrutinib (5%). The median age was 57 years; median Charlson Comorbidity Index was 0. Among patients receiving the four most common regimens, 63% of patients experienced ≥1 incident AE (R-CHOP 77%, B-R 58%, and ibrutinib 52%). An increasing number of incident AEs was associated with increased hospitalization risk (odds ratio = 2.4; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 2.1-2.7) and increased mean costs PPPM (cost ratio = 1.1; 95% CI 1.1-1.2). DISCUSSION: This is the largest study describing treatment patterns and clinical and economic impact of MCL treatment. The most common regimens were R-CHOP, rituximab monotherapy, B-R, and ibrutinib. The majority of treated patients experienced at least one incident AE, with hospitalization risk and all-cause costs increasing as the number of AEs increased.

Surface contamination of counting tools after mock dispensing of cyclophosphamide in a simulated outpatient pharmacy.

PURPOSE: The primary aim was to determine if dispensing of cyclophosphamide tablets resulted in accumulated residue on pharmacy counting tools during a simulated outpatient dispensing process. Secondary objectives included determining if cyclophosphamide contamination exceeded a defined threshold level of 1 ng/cm2 and if a larger number of prescriptions dispensed resulted in increased contamination. METHODS: Mock prescriptions of 40 cyclophosphamide 50 mg tablets were counted on clean trays in three scenarios using a simulated outpatient pharmacy after assaying five cleaned trays as controls. The three scenarios consisted of five simulated dispensings of one, three, or six prescriptions dispensed per scenario. Wipe samples of trays and spatulas were collected and assayed for all trays, including the five clean trays used as controls. Contamination was defined as an assayed cyclophosphamide level at or above 0.001 ng/cm2 and levels above 1 ng/cm2 were considered sufficient to cause risk of human uptake. Mean contamination for each scenario was calculated and compared using one-way analysis of variance. P-values of < 0.05 implied significance. RESULTS: Mean cyclophosphamide contamination on trays used to count one, three, and six cyclophosphamide prescriptions was 0.51 ± 0.10 (p=0.0003), 1.02 ± 0.10 (p < 0.0001), and 1.82 ± 0.10 ng/cm2 (p < 0.0001), respectively. Control trays did not show detectable cyclophosphamide contamination. Increasing the number of prescriptions dispensed from 1 to 3, 1 to 6, and 3 to 6 counts increased contamination by 0.51 ± 0.15 (p = 0.0140), 1.31 + 0.15 (p < 0.0001), and 0.80 ± 0.15 ng/cm2 (p = 0.0004), respectively. CONCLUSION: Dispensing one or more prescriptions of 40 cyclophosphamide 50 mg tablets contaminates pharmacy counting tools, and an increased number of prescriptions dispensed correlates with increased level of contamination. Counting out three or more prescriptions leads to trays having contamination that surpasses the threshold at which worker exposure may be increased. Pharmacies should consider devoting a separate tray to cyclophosphamide tablets, as cross-contamination could occur with other drugs and the efficacy of decontamination methods is unclear. Employee exposure could be minimized with the use of personal protective equipment, environmental controls, and cleaning trays between uses. Future investigation should assess the extent of drug powder dispersion, the effects of various cleaning methods, and the potential extent of contamination with different oral cytotoxic drugs.

Eficacia y seguridad de rituximab en pacientes adultos con granulomatosis con poliangeítis o poliangeítis microscópica no tributarios de tratamiento con ciclofosfamida / Efficacy and safety of rituximab in adult patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis not subject to treatment with cyclophosphamide

INTRODUCCIÓN: La granulomatosis con poliangeítis (GPA, conocida anteriormente como granulomatosis de Wegener) y la poliangeítis microscópica (PAM) son dos formas de vasculitis autoinmunes asociadas a autoanticuerpos citoplásmicos antineutrófilos (ANCA), de ahí su denominación de vasculitis ANCA-positivas. La prevalencia de la GPA es de 13 por 100,000 personas en el Reino Unido (2008), de cinco a 16 por 100,000 personas en el norte de Europa y de tres por 100,000 personas en Estados Unidos. Para la PAM, se ha reportado una incidencia general en un rango de 2.7 a 94 por millón, siendo algo más frecuente en hombres respecto a mujeres (razón de 1.8:1) y en adultos de 50 a más años. No se tienen datos sobre la prevalencia o incidencia de estas vasculitis en población peruana. En cuanto a la terapia para la GPA o PAM, está se enfoca en dos momentos: inducción de la remisión (con terapia inmunosupresora inicial) y mantenimiento de la remisión (con terapia inmunosupresora durante un período variable con la finalidad de prevenir recaída de la enfermedad). La terapia inmunosupresora busca lograr la remisión completa de la enfermedad, definida como la ausencia de enfermedad activa (ausencia de cualquier manifestación clínica que se considere secundaria a una vasculitis activa en curso). Para la fase de inducción de la remisión de la vasculitis, en EsSalud se dispone de ciclofosfamida 1g en ampolla y de ciclofosfamida 50 mg en tableta. A pesar de ello, existe la necesidad de disponer de una alternativa específica para la inducción de la remisión de la enfermedad en pacientes que presentan refractariedad, recaída o contraindicación a la terapia con ciclofosfamida. OBJETIVO: Evaluar la eficacia y seguridad de rituximab en combinación con glucocorticoides en pacientes adultos con granulomatosis con poliangeítis o poliangeítis microscópica no tributarios de tratamiento con ciclofosfamida para la inducción de la completa remisión de la enfermedad. TECNOLOGÍA SANITARIA DE INTERÉS: Rituximab: Rituximab (MabThera®, Roche) es un anticuerpo monoclonal quimérico murino/humano que se une al antígeno CD20 (expresado en los linfocitos pre-B y B maduros, presente en más del 95 % de todos los linfomas no-Hodgkin de células B). Rituximab actuaría a través de la lisis celular mediada por citotoxicidad dependiente del complemento, por la citotoxicidad celular dependiente de anticuerpos mediada por uno o más receptores Fcγ de la superficie de los granulocitos, macrófagos y células NK) y por inducción de la muerte celular por apoptosis (European Medicines Agency 2016). METODOLOGÍA: Se realizó una búsqueda sistemática de literatura con el objetivo de identificar evidencia sobre la eficacia y seguridad de rituximab en pacientes adultos con granulomatosis con poliangeítis o poliangeítis microscópica no tributarios de tratamiento con ciclofosfamida.  Para la identificación de documentos de interés para el presente dictamen, se buscó evidencia disponible en las siguientes bases de datos bibliográficas: PubMed, The Cochrane Library y LILACS. Adicional a ello, se realizó una búsqueda en sitios web pertenecientes a grupos que realizan evaluaciones de tecnologías sanitarias y guías de práctica clínica, incluyendo The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), el portal BRISA (Base Regional de Informes de Evaluación de Tecnologías en Salud de las Américas) y sitios web de organizaciones internacionales en reumatología. Por último, se llevó a cabo una búsqueda manual en el portal ClinicalTrials.gov del National Institutes of Health. RESULTADOS: se presenta los documentos incluidos según su tipo: Guías de práctica clínica (GPC), Evaluaciones de tecnologías sanitarias (ETS), Revisiones sistemáticas (RS), Ensayos clínicos. CONCLUSIONES: Las GPC de EULAR/ERA-EDTA y Harigai et al., indican que las terapias de glucocorticoides más ciclofosfamida o rituximab son alternativas para el paciente con vasculitis ANCA-positiva. La GPC de EULAR/ERA-EDTA, brinda como recomendación específica para la población con refractariedad a ciclofosfamida cambiar la terapia a rituximab, no dando una recomendación para el paciente con contraindicación de uso de ciclofosfamida. La GPC realizada por Harigai et al., no brinda una recomendación específica para la población de interés. Sobre las ETS de SMC y NICE, se señala que el empleo de rituximab es útil para inducir la remisión en paciente con vasculitis ANCA-positivas. SMC señala que no hay evidencia para recomendar el uso rutinario de rituximab en los regímenes de inducción o mantenimiento en pacientes con GPA o PAM, siendo que puede considerarse como alternativa para el tratamiento de la vasculitis refractaria o para el tratamiento de la vasculitis cuando los agentes convencionales están contraindicados (ciclofosfamida). Bajo la evidencia encontrada, NICE recomienda el uso de rituximab para inducir la remisión en adultos con vasculitis ANCA-positivas sólo si un tratamiento adicional con ciclofosfamida superaría la dosis máxima acumulable de ciclofosfamida, o la ciclofosfamida está contraindicada o no es tolerada, la persona desea preservar fertilidad, o la enfermedad ha permanecido activa o ha progresado a pesar de un curso de ciclofosfamida de tres a seis meses, o la persona tiene una lesión maligna uroepitelial.  Como evidencia de ensayos clínicos se incluyó al estudio RAVE, un ensayo clínico fase III, multicéntrico, aleatorizado, doble ciego, doble dummy (doble simulación), de grupos paralelos, que tuvo como objetivo comparar que el tratamiento con rituximab más glucocorticoides fuera no inferior o fuera superior al tratamiento con ciclofosfamida diaria más glucocorticoides para la inducción de remisión y permitiría la interrupción de la prednisona a los seis meses de tratamiento en pacientes con vasculitis ANCA positivas de tipo GPA y PAM. La no inferioridad fue evaluada comparando el límite inferior del intervalo de confianza del 95,1% para la diferencia media de tratamiento a −20 puntos porcentuales. El estudio RAVE se incluyó como evidencia indirecta dado que el ensayo no fue desarrollado para evaluar. específicamente la tecnología en la población de la pregunta PICO planteada para esta evaluación (paciente no tributario de terapia con ciclofosfamida). Como hallazgos, se encontró una diferencia de 11 puntos porcentuales en el desenlace primario de interés (remisión completa de la enfermedad, definido por BVAS/WG de 0 y la finalización exitosa de la reducción de la prednisona a los seis meses), siendo que esta diferencia cumplió con ser estadísticamente significativa para demostrar no inferioridad (p<0.001) en el grupo de rituximab en comparación con el de ciclofosfamida. No se demostró superioridad de rituximab en comparación a ciclofosfamida para la remisión completa de la enfermedad. Para el grupo de pacientes que había presentado recaída previa al ingreso al estudio, se encontró una mayor proporción de pacientes con remisión completa en comparación al grupo de ciclofosfamida. No se encontró diferencias en la discapacidad o calidad de vida entre ambos brazos de estudio. En cuanto a la seguridad, no se encontró diferencias entre los grupos de estudio en la presencia de eventos grado ≥3 o adversos serios. Existen limitaciones para la interpretabilidad de los resultados del estudio RAVE, como una falta de justificación del punto de corte para declarar no inferioridad (limitando la interpretabilidad de la relevancia clínica de los resultados del estudio RAVE) y el no reporte del límite inferior del IC al 95% para el desenlace final del estudio y únicamente reportándose el valor p, siendo este valor el empleado por los autores para declarar no inferioridad. De esta forma, con la evidencia disponible del único ensayo (estudio RAVE), se tiene que la eficacia y seguridad de rituximab más glucocorticoides es no inferior a la terapia con ciclofosfamida + glucocorticoides en pacientes con GPA o PAM. Adicionalmente, existiría un beneficio de brindar terapia con rituximab en los pacientes con refractariedad previa a la terapia con ciclofosfamida. Las agencias SMC y NICE señalan que el nicho terapéutico de rituximab estaría en pacientes que presentan recaída, intolerancia o contraindicación a la inducción de la remisión con ciclofosfamida. En EsSalud, no se dispone de una alternativa terapéutica para pacientes con GPA o PAM no tributarios de ciclofosfamida para la inducción de la remisión de la enfermedad, existiendo un vacío terapéutico, y que la institución cuenta con experiencia para el uso de rituximab en otras condiciones clínicas. Por lo expuesto, el Instituto de Evaluación de Tecnologías en Salud e Investigación­ IETSI aprueba el uso de rituximab para la inducción de la remisión en pacientes adultos con granulomatosis con poliangeítis o poliangeítis microscópica no tributarios de tratamiento con ciclofosfamida, según lo establecido en el Anexo N°1. La vigencia del presente dictamen preliminar es de un año a partir de la fecha de publicación. Así, la continuación de dicha aprobación estará sujeta a la evaluación de los resultados obtenidos y de nueva evidencia que pueda surgir en el tiempo.

R-hyper-CVAD versus R-CHOP/cytarabine with high-dose therapy and autologous haematopoietic stem cell support in fit patients with mantle cell lymphoma: 20 years of single-center experience.

Standard of care for untreated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is still debated. At the University Hospital Zurich, advanced MCL in physically fit patients is treated either with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone induction followed by consolidating high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell support (R-CHOP/HD-ASCT), or with rituximab plus fractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone alternating with high-dose methotrexate-cytarabine (R-hyper-CVAD/MTX-AraC) without consolidating HD-ASCT upon physicians' and patients' choice. We retrospectively analysed the outcome and therapy tolerance in patients with MCL treated with R-CHOP/HD-ASCT or R-hyper-CVAD/MTX-AraC at the University Hospital Zurich between January 1996 and January 2016. Forty-three patients were included; 29 patients received R-CHOP/HD-ASCT and 14 patients R-hyper-CVAD/MTX-AraC. Mean age at diagnosis was 54.4 years (range 38-68 years). Thirty-five patients (81.4%) completed the entire first-line therapy (n = 24 in the R-CHOP/HD-ASCT group, n = 11 in the R-hyper-CVAD group). Of those, all patients responded and 97% achieved a complete remission (CR). With a mean follow-up of 5.7 years 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients was 32% and overall survival (OS) was 76%, with no difference between the two therapy groups. Complication-induced hospitalisation rate, haematological toxicity and economic burden were significantly higher in the R-hyper-CVAD therapy group. In contrast, quality of life and global health state were better in the R-hyper-CVAD therapy group. Both first-line therapies showed similar outcome with a median OS longer than 10 years. Due to significantly lower haematological toxicity and lower economic burden, we recommend R-CHOP/HD-ASCT as first-line therapy in fit adult patients with advanced MCL.

Cyclophosphamide-induced male subfertility in mice: An assessment of the potential benefits of Maca supplement.

Effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on cyclophosphamide (CYP)-induced gonadal toxicity in male mice were investigated. Mice were assigned to six treatment groups: Vehicle control, CYP control, CYP plus oral Maca (500 or 1,000 mg/kg), and oral Maca (500 or 1,000 mg/kg). CYP was administered via the intraperitoneal route (days 1-2), while vehicle or Maca were administered daily for 28 days. On day 28, half of the animals in each group were either sacrificed or paired with age-matched females for fertility assessment. Plasma testosterone assay, sperm analysis and assessment of tissue antioxidant/morphological status were also carried out. CYP administration was associated with oxidative stress, subfertility and morphometric/morphological indices of gonadal injury, while administration of Maca mitigated CYP-induced gonadal toxicity and subfertility. This study shows that Maca is beneficial in the mitigation of CYP-induced male gonadal insufficiency and/or testicular morphological changes; however, further studies will be needed to ascertain its usability for this purpose in humans.

Eficacia y seguridad del uso de ibrutinib en el tratamiento de leucemia linfática crónica (LLC)/linfoma linfocítico de células pequeñas (LLP) en paciente adulto mayor frágil, no tributario a quimioinmunoterapia / Efficacy and safety of the use of ibrutinib in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (LLP) / small cell lymphocytic lymphoma (LLC) in frail older adult patient, not tributary to chemoimmunotherapy

INTRODUCCIÓN: El presente dictamen expone la evaluación de la eficacia y seguridad del uso de ibrutinib para el tratamiento de LLC/LLP, en paciente adulto mayor frágil, no tributario a quimioinmunoterapia. La epidemiología y generalidades de la leucemia linfática crónica(LLC)/linfoma linfocítico de células pequeñas (LLP), se describe a detalle en el Dictamen Preliminar de Evaluación de Tecnología Sanitaria N.° 058-SDEPFyOTS-DETS-IETSI-2017. Brevemente, en el Perú no existe data publicada con respecto a la frecuencia de esta enfermedad. No obstante, existen reportes locales donde se menciona una baja proporción de casos. Por otro lado, la edad promedio al momento de diagnóstico de esta neoplasia es de 70 años con una sobrevida global a los cinco años cercana al 80 %, la cual se ve disminuida en pacientes mayores de 75 años. TECNOLOGIA SANITARIA DE INTERÉS: Se describe a detalle el mecanismo de acción de ibrutinib. Brevemente, este es una molécula pequeña, inhibidor de la tirosina quinasa de Bruton (BTK), que se une de manera irreversible al residuo 481 de la BTK, así como a otros dominios que contienen un residuo de cisteína análogo. Así, este inhibe la proliferación de los linfocitos B acelerando la muerte de las células neoplásicas. Ibrutinib fue elaborado, patentado y comercializado originalmente por Pharmacyclics Inc y luego por el laboratorio Janssen de Johnson & Johnson, como Imbruvica®. METODOLOGÍA: Se realizó una búsqueda de la literatura con respecto a la eficacia y seguridad del uso de ibrutinib para el tratamiento de LLC/LLP, en paciente adulto mayor frágil, no tributario a quimioinmunoterapia. Esta búsqueda se realizó utilizando los meta-buscadores: Translating Research into Practice (TRIPDATABASE) y National Library of Medicine (Pubmed-Medline). Adicionalmente, se realizó una búsqueda manual del listado de referencias bibliográficas de los estudios seleccionados a fin de identificar otros estudios que pudieran ser útiles para la presente evaluación. Por otro lado, se amplió la búsqueda revisando la evidencia generada por grupos internacionales que realizan revisiones sistemáticas (RS), evaluación de tecnologías sanitarias (ETS) y guías de práctica clínica (GPC), tales como la Cochrane Group, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ), The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), y The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). Esta búsqueda se complementó revisando publicaciones de grupos dedicados a la educación, investigación y mejora de la práctica clínica oncológica y hematológica dentro de América y Europa, como The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) y The European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), y The American Society of Hematology (ASH). Por último, se completó la búsqueda ingresando a la página web www.clinicaltrials.gov, para así poder identificar ensayos clínicos en elaboración o que no hayan sido publicados aún, y así disminuir el riesgo de sesgo de publicación. RESULTADOS: En la actualidad dentro de la institución no se realiza una prueba para diferenciar a los pacientes que presentan o no la mutación TP53 o deleción 17p, con lo cual el tratamiento brindando a los pacientes no es diferenciando según el estado de mutación. No obstante, la evidencia científica es presentada diferenciando la presencia o ausencia de la mutación TP53 o deleción 17p. Es por ello que la población de la pregunta PICO del presente dictamen incluyó a toda la población en general, incluyendo pacientes con presencia o ausencia de la mutación TP53 o deleción 17p. Con ello, se consideró toda la evidencia disponible para los pacientes con LLC/LLP en primera línea no tributarios a quimioinmunoterapia. Luego de una búsqueda sistemática y revisión de la evidencia en torno al uso de ibrutinib para LLC/LLP, se encontró que el objetivo del ensayo RESONATE-2 es el que se ajusta de manera más precisa con la pregunta PICO de interés del presente dictamen, es de notar que solo se incluyen a pacientes sin la mutación TP53 o la deleción 17p. Asimismo, el RESONATE-2 es parte de la evidencia utilizada tanto en las guías de práctica clínica, como en una de las ETS incluidas en el presente documento. Así en dicho ensayo no se pudo estimar las medianas de sobrevida global (SG) en el tiempo de duración del estudio. Si bien se observa que sí hubo una diferencia estadísticamente significativa en relación al hazard ratio (HR) de sobrevida libre de progresión (SLP) y SG, favoreciendo a ibrutinib, existen limitaciones importantes en relación a ambas medidas y desenlaces, tal como se describe de manera extensa en la discusión, con lo cual no se puede concluir que exista un beneficio en el uso de ibrutinib en relación a su perfil de eficacia. Adicionalmente, no existe un artículo donde se presente de manera detallada la evaluación y resultados del análisis de calidad de vida. Así, no ha sido posible hacer una valoración de la calidad y solidez de estos, más aún cuando se trata de un ensayo de etiqueta abierta donde existe un mayor riesgo de sesgo de resultados subjetivos, tal como lo es la calidad de vida. Por último, en el tiempo de seguimiento del ensayo se observó el doble de eventos adversos serios en el grupo de ibrutinib en comparación a clorambucil. CONCLUSIÓN: El Instituto de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias-IETSI no aprueba el uso ibrutinib para el tratamiento de leucemia linfática crónica (LLC)/linfoma linfocítico de células pequeñas (LLP), en paciente adulto mayor frágil, no tributario a quimioinmunoterapia.