A Meta-Analysis Evaluating the Incidence of Bleeding Events With Intravenous Defibrotide Treatment Outside the Veno-Occlusive Disease/Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome Setting.

Defibrotide is approved to treat hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) with renal/pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in adult and pediatric patients in the United States, and to treat severe hepatic VOD/SOS post HCT in adult and pediatric patients aged >1 month in the European Union. The defibrotide prescribing information warns that defibrotide may increase bleeding risk in VOD/SOS patients. To broaden our understanding of the incidence of bleeding with defibrotide, we performed a meta-analysis of the published literature of defibrotide use outside of the post-HCT VOD/SOS setting. Of 1857 records identified, 125 reported on defibrotide; 23 contained data on bleeding events. The estimated overall incidence of bleeding events was 1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0%-2%) and 8% (95% CI: 3%-14%) in studies using intravenous defibrotide and studies with controls, respectively. The risk ratio for bleeding events with intravenous defibrotide versus controls was 0.36 (95% CI: 0.24-0.52; P < .00001) among studies with data on intravenous defibrotide and controls. This meta-analysis of defibrotide use outside of the post-HCT VOD/SOS setting suggests that the incidence of bleeding with defibrotide is lower than controls.

Pooled analysis of Day 100 survival for defibrotide-treated patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome and ventilator or dialysis dependence following haematopoietic cell transplantation.

For patients with untreated hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD)/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) with multi-organ dysfunction (MOD), mortality is >80%. We conducted a pooled analysis of three studies that assessed Day 100 survival in relationship to MOD severity, with dialysis and/or ventilator dependence representing the most severe organ dysfunction. All patients in the analysis were diagnosed using Baltimore criteria/biopsy. This analysis of patients with VOD/SOS and MOD after haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT; n = 651) demonstrated higher Day 100 survival rates amongst defibrotide-treated patients with VOD/SOS with less versus more severe forms of MOD. Even patients with severe forms of MOD post-HCT benefitted from defibrotide.

Incidence of Anicteric Veno-Occlusive Disease/Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome and Outcomes with Defibrotide following Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Adult and Pediatric Patients.

Veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) that is traditionally diagnosed using Baltimore or modified Seattle criteria. Whereas the Baltimore criteria require the presence of hyperbilirubinemia (bilirubin ≥2 mg/dL) for a diagnosis of VOD/SOS, the modified Seattle criteria do not. Before approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, defibrotide was available in the United States through an expanded-access study (T-IND). The T-IND protocol initially required post-HCT diagnosis of VOD/SOS by the Baltimore criteria or biopsy but was later amended to include patients diagnosed using the modified Seattle criteria. This post hoc analysis examined the incidence of VOD/SOS with a bilirubin level <2 mg/dL before and after Day 21 post-HCT in T-IND patients enrolled following the amendment allowing for diagnosis by the modified Seattle criteria. Survival of adult and pediatric patients with or without hyperbilirubinemia and with or without multiorgan dysfunction (MOD) was also evaluated. Of 803 post-HCT patients with VOD/SOS enrolled following the protocol amendment, 181 (23%) had a bilirubin level <2 mg/dL and would not have been diagnosed if hyperbilirubinemia was required. The bilirubin level at diagnosis was <2 mg/dL in 165 of 331 patients (50%) diagnosed by the modified Seattle criteria and in 16 of 23 patients (70%) diagnosed by biopsy. VOD/SOS with a bilirubin level <2 mg/dL was more common in pediatric patients (29%), although it also occurred in adult patients (15%). Patients with hyperbilirubinemia had lower Day 100 survival (54% versus 87% in patients with bilirubin <2 mg/dL) and a higher incidence of MOD (41% versus 26% in patients with bilirubin <2 mg/dL). The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events was lower in patients with a bilirubin level <2 mg/dL. These results indicate that anicteric VOD/SOS occurs in both adult and pediatric patients post-HCT and can be diagnosed before and after Day 21 in both groups. The worse survival in patients with bilirubin ≥2 mg/dL suggests that requiring hyperbilirubinemia may result in a progressed disease stage associated with worse outcomes. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of awareness and the possibility of VOD/SOS in the absence of elevated bilirubin level.

Defibrotide for the treatment of hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome following nontransplant-associated chemotherapy: Final results from a post hoc analysis of data from an expanded-access program.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) is a potentially fatal complication of conditioning for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) but can occur after nontransplant-associated chemotherapy. Following HSCT, VOD/SOS with multi-organ dysfunction (MOD) may be associated with >80% mortality. Defibrotide is approved to treat severe hepatic VOD/SOS post-HSCT in patients aged >1 month in the European Union and hepatic VOD/SOS with renal or pulmonary dysfunction post-HSCT in the United States. Prior to US approval, defibrotide was available to treat VOD/SOS through an expanded-access treatment (T-IND) program. A post hoc analysis of nontransplant-associated VOD/SOS patients treated with defibrotide initiated within 30 days of starting chemotherapy and followed for 70 days is presented. PROCEDURE: Patients were diagnosed by Baltimore or modified Seattle criteria or biopsy, and received defibrotide 25 mg/kg/day in four divided doses (≥21 days recommended). RESULTS: Of the 1,154 patients in the T-IND, 137 had nontransplant-associated VOD/SOS, 82 of whom developed VOD/SOS within 30 days of starting chemotherapy. Of them, 66 (80.5%) were aged ≤16 years. Across all the 82 patients, Kaplan-Meier estimated day +70 survival was 74.1%, 65.8% in patients with MOD (n = 38), and 81.3% in patients without MOD (n = 44). By age group, Kaplan-Meier estimated day +70 survival was 80.1% in pediatric patients (n = 66) and 50.0% in adults (n = 16). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 26.8%. CONCLUSIONS: In this post hoc analysis of 82 patients initiating defibrotide within 30 days of starting chemotherapy, Kaplan-Meier estimated survival was 74.1% at 70 days after defibrotide initiation. Safety profile was consistent with prior defibrotide studies.

Final results from a defibrotide treatment-IND study for patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome.

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) conditioning and chemotherapy. Defibrotide is approved for treatment of hepatic VOD/SOS with pulmonary or renal dysfunction [i.e., multi-organ dysfunction (MOD)] after HSCT in the United States and severe VOD/SOS after HSCT in patients aged older than 1 month in the European Union. Defibrotide was available as an investigational drug by an expanded-access treatment programme (T-IND; NCT00628498). In the completed T-IND, the Kaplan-Meier estimated Day +100 survival for 1000 patients with documented defibrotide treatment after HSCT was 58·9% [95% confidence interval (CI), 55·7-61·9%]. Day +100 survival was also analysed by age and MOD status, and post hoc analyses were performed to determine Day +100 survival by transplant type, timing of VOD/SOS onset (≤21 or >21 days) and timing of defibrotide treatment initiation after VOD/SOS diagnosis. Day +100 survival in paediatric patients was 67·9% (95% CI, 63·8-71·6%) and 47·1% (95% CI, 42·3-51·8%) in adults. All patient subgroups without MOD had higher Day +100 survival than those with MOD; earlier defibrotide initiation was also associated with higher Day +100 survival. The safety profile of defibrotide in the completed T-IND study was similar to previous reports.