Cost-effectiveness analysis of rasburicase over standard of care for the prevention and treatment of tumor lysis syndrome in children with hematologic malignancies in China

Safety and Effectiveness of Rasburicase in the Control of Hyperuricemia in Pediatric Patients with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Acute Leukemia: An Open-Label, Single-Arm, Multi-center, Interventional Study

INTRODUCTION

Despite rasburicase's proven efficiency in Caucasians, Japanese, and Koreans, studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of rasburicase in Chinese pediatric patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and acute leukemia (AL) in particular are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of rasburicase in Chinese pediatric patients with NHL and AL.

METHODS

In this phase IV, open-label, non-randomized, single-arm, multi-center, interventional study (NCT04349306), children newly diagnosed with NHL or AL who received 0.20 mg/kg/day of rasburicase were included. The primary objective was to assess the safety of rasburicase by the incidence of adverse events (AEs). The secondary objective was to determine the effectiveness of rasburicase in the control of hyperuricemia.

RESULTS

Out of 50 patients, 25 reported a total of 76 treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), including eight TEAEs of grade ≥ 3 in 12 patients. A drug-related serious AE was reported in one patient, and there was no incidence of death. The response rate in the intent-to-treat population was 100.0% (95% confidence interval 82.4-100.0) in patients (n = 19) with baseline uric acid level of > 8.0 mg/dL. Similarly, the response rate was 86.2% (n = 25) among 29 patients (60.4%) with baseline uric acid levels of ≤ 8.0 mg/dL. The maximum mean percentage decrease of plasma uric acid level in the overall patients was 96.9%.

CONCLUSION

Rasburicase was well tolerated and effective in controlling hyperuricemia in Chinese pediatric patients with NHL and AL.

Evaluation of the safety and efficacy of low-dose rasburicase in critically ill children with haematological malignancies

Background The recommended dose of rasburicase is quite expensive, thus limiting its use. Whether a lower dose of rasburicase would be equally effective for critically ill children, who often have more complicated situations and a higher risk of hospital death, is still unknown. Objective To explore the safety and efficacy of low-dose rasburicase in critically ill children with haematological malignancies who are at high risk of tumour lysis syndrome. Setting A single-centre retrospective cohort study. Method Children with haematological malignancies who had a history of rasburicase exposure during an intensive care unit stay were enrolled. Patients were divided into two groups according to the initial dosage of rasburicase: the standard-dose group (> 0.1 mg/kg/day) and the low-dose group (≤ 0.1 mg/kg/day). The adverse events and short-term prognosis of the two groups were compared. Results Thirty-seven children were selected, 22 in the standard-dose group and 15 in the low-dose group. The most common tumour type was Burkitt's lymphoma (81%), followed by acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (11%). All patients were at high risk of tumour lysis syndrome, and 73% of them had 3 or more tumour lysis syndrome risk factors. The uric acid levels of 90% of patients with hyperuricaemia returned to the normal range within 12 h (100% in the standard-dose group and 75% in the low-dose group, P = 0.083). Eighty-four percent of patients presented serious complications, including tumour lysis syndrome (73%), acute kidney injury (59%), renal replacement treatment (24%), respiratory failure (24%), disseminated intravascular coagulation (16%) and heart failure (11%). There was no significant difference in the incidence of serious complications between the two groups. The overall 7-day and 28-day survival rates after intensive care unit admission were 86% and 84%, respectively. The average length of stay in the intensive care unit was 9.92 ± 5.13 days. Neither the short-term mortality nor the length of stay in the intensive care unit were significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion Low-dose rasburicase is effective and may be an acceptable choice for critically ill children with haematological malignancies.