A real-world analysis of the influence of age on maintenance hemodialysis patients: managing serum phosphorus with sucroferric oxyhydroxide as part of routine clinical care.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the growing number of elderly hemodialysis patients, the influence of age on nutritional parameters, serum phosphorus (sP), and use of phosphate-binder (PB) medications has not been well characterized. We aimed to describe age-related differences in patient characteristics in a large, real-world cohort of maintenance hemodialysis patients, and to examine the impact of age on sP management with sucroferric oxyhydroxide (SO). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed de-identified data from 2017 adult, in-center hemodialysis patients who switched from another PB to SO monotherapy as part of routine clinical care. Changes in baseline PB pill burden, sP levels, and nutritional and dialytic clearance parameters were assessed across varying age groups through 6 months. RESULTS: At baseline, older patients had lower mean sP, serum albumin, and pre-dialysis weights compared with younger patients. Prescription of SO was associated with a 62% increase in the proportion of patients achieving sP ≤ 5.5 mg/dl and a 42% reduction in daily pill burden. The proportion of patients achieving sP ≤ 5.5 mg/dl after transitioning to SO increased by 113, 96, 68, 77, 61, 37 and 40% among those aged 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and ≥ 80 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Older patients had worse nutritional parameters, lower pill burden, and lower sP at baseline versus younger counterparts. Prescription of SO was associated with improved sP control and reduced pill burden across all ages.

Impact of Relative Dose Intensity of FOLFOX Adjuvant Chemotherapy on Risk of Death Among Stage III Colon Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines have recommended tailored chemotherapy for stage III high-risk (T4 and/or N2) and low-risk (T1-T3 and N1) colon cancer since 2018. Studies have investigated the effect of relative dose intensity (RDI) of FOLFOX on stage III colon cancer survival, however, none has performed a stratified analysis by risk profiles. This study aims to identify the FOLFOX optimal RDI for high-risk and low-risk stage III colon cancer patients. METHODS: Data on 407 eligible patients, diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2011 who received FOLFOX, were collected by 8 population-based cancer registries. Multivariable Cox model and Fine-Gray competing risks model were employed to explore Optimal RDI defined as the lowest RDI administered without significant differences in either overall or cause-specific death. RESULTS: Among the 168 high-risk patients, the optimal RDI cut-off was 70% (HR = 1.59 with 95% CI: 0.69-3.66 in overall mortality; HR = 1.24 with 95% CI: 0.42-3.64 in cause-specific mortality when RDI < 70% vs. RDI ≥ 70%). Among the 239 low-risk patients, none of the evaluated cut-offs were associated with significant differences in risk of death between comparison groups. The lowest assessed RDI was 45%, HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.24 to 2.73 for overall mortality and HR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.06 to 4.95 for cause-specific mortality, when RDI <45% versus RDI ≥45%. CONCLUSIONS: There is no significant harm on the risk of death when reducing RDI by <30% for high-risk patients. For the low-risk patients, we found that RDI as low as 45% did not significantly affect the risk of death.