Safety and efficacy of eltrombopag for treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia: Results of the long-term, open-label EXTEND study

Mansoor N. Saleh, James B. Bussel, Gregory Cheng, Oliver Meyer, Christine K. Bailey, Michael Arning, Andres Brainsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

273 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia may have bleeding resulting from low platelet counts. Eltrombopag increases and maintains hemostatic platelet counts; however, to date, outcome has been reported only for treatment lasting≤ 6 months. This interim analysis of the ongoing open-label EXTEND (Eltrombopag eXTENded Dosing) study evaluates the safety and efficacy of eltrombopag in 299 patients treated up to 3 years. Splenectomized and nonsplenectomized patients achieved platelets≥ 50 000/μL at least once (80% and 88%, respectively). Platelets ≥ 50 000/μL and 2 × baseline were maintained for a median of 73 of 104 and 109 of 156 cumulative study weeks, respectively. Bleeding symptoms (World Health Organization Grades 1-4) decreased from 56% of patients at baseline to 20% at 2 years and 11% at 3 years. One hundred (33%) patients were receiving concomitant treatments at study entry, 69 of whom attempted to reduce them; 65% (45 of 69) had a sustained reduction or permanently stopped ≥ 1 concomitant treatment. Thirty-eight patients (13%) experienced ≥ 1 adverse events leading to study withdrawal, including patients meeting protocol-defined withdrawal criteria (11 [4%] thromboembolic events, 5 [2%] exceeding liver enzyme thresholds). No new or increased incidence of safety issues was identified. Long-term treatment with eltrombopag was generally safe, well tolerated, and effective in maintaining platelet counts in the desired range. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00351468.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)537-545
Number of pages9
JournalBlood
Volume121
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jan 2013
Externally publishedYes

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