Real-world practice of acute leukemia intrathecal chemotherapy administration: A Mexican nationwide survey

ABSTRACT Introduction: Intrathecal chemotherapy is a mainstay component of acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment. In Mexico, there is a considerable practice variability in aspects, such as the manner of preparation and the administration technique. Objective: Our objective was to describe the different techniques used for the application of ITC and review the existing recommendations in the literature. Method: A cross-sectional, nationwide survey study was conducted by an electronic questionnaire sent to hematologists and oncologists in Mexico. We collected demographic data, personal experience, intrathecal chemotherapy techniques, drug preparation and postprocedural conduct. Results: We received 173 responses. Twenty percent had an anesthesiologist administering sedation and pain management. The platelet count considered safe was 50 × 109/L in 48% of the participants. In 77% (n = 133) of the cases, the conventional needle with stylet used was, 49% did not receive any added diluent in the intrathecal chemotherapy and only 42% were recommended to rest in a horizontal position for more than 30 min. Conclusion: We identified a considerable variation in the administration of intrathecal chemotherapy across the hematologists in Mexico. We discuss the implications and opportunities in reducing the variation in our setting, highlighting the unmet need to establish guidelines that should be evaluated by the Mexican professional society to produce a position paper regarding practice standardization.

Real-world practice of acute leukemia intrathecal chemotherapy administration: A Mexican nationwide survey.

INTRODUCTION: Intrathecal chemotherapy is a mainstay component of acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment. In Mexico, there is a considerable practice variability in aspects, such as the manner of preparation and the administration technique. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to describe the different techniques used for the application of ITC and review the existing recommendations in the literature. METHOD: A cross-sectional, nationwide survey study was conducted by an electronic questionnaire sent to hematologists and oncologists in Mexico. We collected demographic data, personal experience, intrathecal chemotherapy techniques, drug preparation and postprocedural conduct. RESULTS: We received 173 responses. Twenty percent had an anesthesiologist administering sedation and pain management. The platelet count considered safe was 50 × 109/L in 48% of the participants. In 77% (n = 133) of the cases, the conventional needle with stylet used was, 49% did not receive any added diluent in the intrathecal chemotherapy and only 42% were recommended to rest in a horizontal position for more than 30 min. CONCLUSION: We identified a considerable variation in the administration of intrathecal chemotherapy across the hematologists in Mexico. We discuss the implications and opportunities in reducing the variation in our setting, highlighting the unmet need to establish guidelines that should be evaluated by the Mexican professional society to produce a position paper regarding practice standardization.

Patterns of central nervous system involvement in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND: Invasion of CNS in MM is an extremely rare occurrence that is associated with advanced disease with poor prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our MM database identified 35 CNS MM cases presenting between January 1996 and March 2012. Descriptive analyses were performed on available data on patient characteristics, disease course, and outcomes. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 55.4 years; 23.5% (n = 8) patients had elevated levels of beta-2-microglobulin > 5.5 mg/L; 68.6% (n = 24) of patients had elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (≥ 2 times upper limit of normal); and 14% (n = 5) of patients had secondary plasma cell leukemia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which was performed in 34 patients, showed diffuse or localized leptomeningeal disease in 20 patients (58.8%). Monoclonal malignant plasma cells were found by CSF analysis in all 35 patients. In total, 31 patients received chemotherapy, including intrathecal chemotherapy as a part of their treatment, with a median survival of 4 months after CNS MM diagnosis. DISCUSSION: In our experience, CNS MM is an aggressive terminal disease feature associated with high beta-2-microglobulin level, high LDH level, and secondary plasma cell leukemia. This study highlights an unmet need in this subset of patients with high-risk, relapsed or refractory MM. CONCLUSION: Achieving adequate CSF penetration while limiting the off-target effects needs to be considered in MM-specific novel drug development.

Neuropsychological profile of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The present study investigated cognitive function in children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The subjects were 20 children between the ages of 6 and 12 years of both genders who were diagnosed with ALL and underwent exclusively triple intrathecal prophylactic chemotherapy of the central nervous system. The protocol used for the neuropsychological assessment included the following cognitive aspects: intellectual performance, attention, memory and executive function. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using the Mann-Whitney U test and Student t-test. The effects of gender, age at diagnosis, and time since the initiation of treatment on the children's performance were determined. The evaluation of intellectual performance revealed reduced scores in the group of children who were female and younger than 5 years of age at diagnosis, especially difficulty with verbal skills and working memory. With regard to attention systems, the different groups presented expected performance for their age. We observed lower scores in the different groups in executive function, aspects of the development of problem-solving strategies, self-regulation, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Better performance was observed for episodic memory and semantic memory (immediate and recognition), but lower scores were found for learning and recall after interference. In conclusion, the present findings are both consistent and discordant with the literature in the field that alludes to the impact of chemotherapy on the maturation of the central nervous system.

Neuropsychological profile of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The present study investigated cognitive function in children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The subjects were 20 children between the ages of 6 and 12 years of both genders who were diagnosed with ALL and underwent exclusively triple intrathecal prophylactic chemotherapy of the central nervous system. The protocol used for the neuropsychological assessment included the following cognitive aspects: intellectual performance, attention, memory and executive function. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using the Mann-Whitney U test and Student t-test. The effects of gender, age at diagnosis, and time since the initiation of treatment on the children's performance were determined. The evaluation of intellectual performance revealed reduced scores in the group of children who were female and younger than 5 years of age at diagnosis, especially difficulty with verbal skills and working memory. With regard to attention systems, the different groups presented expected performance for their age. We observed lower scores in the different groups in executive function, aspects of the development of problem-solving strategies, self-regulation, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Better performance was observed for episodic memory and semantic memory (immediate and recognition), but lower scores were found for learning and recall after interference. In conclusion, the present findings are both consistent and discordant with the literature in the field that alludes to the impact of chemotherapy on the maturation of the central nervous system.(AU)