Journal List > Infect Chemother > v.42(1) > 1035003

Kwon, Kim, Choi, Choi, Lee, Park, Choi, Yoo, and Shin: Efficacy and Safety Profile of Voriconazole as Salvage Therapy for Invasive Aspergillosis with Hematologic Diseases in Korea

Abstract

Background

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. We investigated the efficacy and safety of voriconazole (VCZ) when used as salvage therapy for IA in Korean adults with hematologic malignancies who had not responded to prior antifungal therapy.

Materials and Methods

We retrospectively reviewed data, collected from January 2007 to October 2008, from patients with proven or probable cases of IA. All were probable IA cases, except for one proven case. All cases were refractory or intolerant to antifungal therapy prior to administration of VCZ. Efficacy and safety were assessed in patients treated with VCZ for more than 3 days and for more than one dose, respectively. A favorable response [complete (CR) or partial (PR)] was defined by significant improvement of all clinical symptoms, signs, and radiologic abnormalities.

Results

Fifty patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. There were 27 male and 23 female patients with mean age of 44.4 years (range, 15-65 years). Underlying diseases were acute leukemia (35 cases), chronic myelogenous leukemia (4 cases), myelodysplastic syndrome (3 cases), lymphoma (3 cases) and other hematologic diseases (5 cases). Twenty-two patients had received chemotherapy and 13 patients had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The lung was the main infection site (94%) followed by the sinus (6%). Amphotericin B deoxycholate alone was the most frequent previous antifungal therapy. The mean duration of antifungal therapy prior to VCZ therapy was 13.9±8.8 days (2-44 days). The median duration of VCZ therapy was 19 days (interquartile range, 49 days). Sixteen patients (32.0%) showed favorable responses (CR:PR=8:8) at the end of VCZ therapy. The numbers of patients with stable disease, progression and death were, 6 (12%), 6 (12%) and 22 (44%) respectively. Most of those with unfavorable responses had relapsed underlying malignancies or refractory graft versus host diseases. Twelve patients developed drug-related adverse events but only one patient stopped VCZ treatment prematurely.

Conclusions

VCZ demonstrated an acceptable level of toxicity in patients with hematologic malignancies but further studies are required to prove its efficacy as salvage therapy.

References

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Figure 1.
Kaplan-Meier probability of overall survival rate after initiation of VCZ therapy according to underlying disease status. Group A includes chemotherapy, HSCT and post-HSCT groups collectively. Group B is conservative care group. One patient in group B was missing 31 days after enrollment. The P value was calculated by the Log-rank test.
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Table 1.
Baseline Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients
Characteristics No. (%) of patients (n=50)
Sex
 Male 27 (54.0)
 Female 23 (46.0)
Mean age±SD [range], years 44.4±12.6 [15-65]
Underlying disease
 AML 27 (54.0)
 ALL 8 (16.0)
 CML 4 (8.0)
 MDS 3 (6.0)
 Lymphoma 3 (6.0)
 Others* 5 (10.0)
Treatment group
 Chemotherapy group 22 (44.0)
 HSCT and Post-HSCT group 13 (26.0)
 Conservative care 15 (30.0)
Classification of IA
 Proven 1 (2.0)
 Probable 49 (98.0)
Site of IA
 Lung 47 (94.0)
 Sinus 3 (6.0)
Response to initial antifungal therapy
 Refractoriness 48 (96.0)
 Intolerance 2 (4.0)
Neutropenia at enrollment
 Neutropenic 23 (46.0)
 Non-neutropenic 27 (54.0)
Duration of previous antifungal theapy
 Mean±SD (days) 13.9±8.8
 >7 days 35 (70.0)
 >30 days 3 (6.0)
Duration of voriconazole therapy
 Median (days) 19
 IQR (days) 49
 >90 days (%) 10 (20.0)

Abbreviations : SD, standard deviation; AML, acute myelogenous leukemia; ALL, acute lymphocytic leukemia; CML, chronic myelogenous leukemia; MDS, myelodysplastic syndrome; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; IA, invasive aspergillosis; IQR, interquartile range

* Others (n=5) include multiple myeloma (n=2), severe aplastic anemia (n=2) and idiopathic myelofibrosis (n=1)

Table 2.
Overall Efficacy of Voriconazole Therapy
Assessment n=50 (%)
n=49 (%)
at the end of VCZ at 12 weeks
Favorable response 16 (32.0) 15 (30.6)
 Complete response 8 (16.0) 8 (16.0)
 Partial response 8 (16.3) 7 (14.3)
Unfavorable response 34 (68.0) 34 (69.4)
 Stable disease 6 (12.0) 3 (6.1)
 Progression 6 (12.0) 3 (6.1)
 Death 22 (44.0) 28 (57.2)

Abbreviation: VCZ, voriconazole

One patient was missing after the end of VCZ therapy and before 12 weeks

Table 3.
Distribution of Patients with a Favorable Response to Voriconazole Therapy at the End of Therapy
Factors No. of patients with favorable response/total No. of assessable patients (%)
Underlying disease
 AML 10/27 (37.0)
 ALL 3/8 (37.5)
 CML 1/4 (25.0)
 MDS 2/3 (66.7)
 Lymphoma 0/3 (0.0)
 Others* 0/5 (0.0)
Treatment group
 Chemotherapy group 9/22 (40.9)
 HSCT & post-HSCT group 5/13 (38.5)
 Conservative care 2/15 (13.3)
Classification of IA
 Proven 0/1 (0.0)
 Probable 16/49 (32.7)
Site of IA
 Lung 16/47 (34.0)
 Sinus 0/3 (0.0)
Response to initial antifungal therapy
 Refractoriness 15/48 (31.3)
 Intolerance 1/2 (50.0)
Neutropenia at enrollment
 Neutropenic 6/23 (26.1)
 Non-neutropenic 10/27 (37.0)

Abbreviations : same as Table 1.

* Others (n=8) include multiple myeloma (n=2), severe aplastic anemia (n=2) and idiopathic myelofibrosis (n=1).

Table 4.
Overall Mortality Rate According to the Treatment Group
Treatment group Mortality rate (%)
on 30 days at 12 weeks
 Chemotherapy 9/22 (40.9) 12/22 (54.5)
 HSCT & post HSCT group 3/13 (23.1) 7/13 (53.8)
 Conservative care 8/15 (53.3) 9/14 (64.3)
Total 20/50 (40.0) 28/49 (57.2)

Each cell expressed as No. of patients who died over total no. of assessable patients in each treatment group(mortality rate in each treatment group).

One patient was missing between 30 days and 12 weeks.

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