Abstract
Hydroxycarbamide (hydroxyurea or HU) has been shown to increase fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in patients with β-thalassemia intermedia (TI). The reported effects of HU in increasing the total hemoglobin (Hb) have been inconsistent. Studies of long-term therapy with HU in pediatric TI are rather uncommon. A retrospective observational study was carried out to evaluate the clinical responses to HU in Egyptian patients with β-TI. One hundred patients; children (n = 82, mean age 9.9 ± 4.1 years) and adults (n = 18) were studied for the mean Hb, HbF%, median serum ferritin, transfusion history, and splenic size before and after HU therapy (mean dose 20.0 ± 4.2 mg/kg/day, range 10–29 mg/kg/day) over a follow-up period 4 to 96 months (mean 35.4 ± 19.2 months). Molecular studies were also done for group of patients (n = 42). The overall response rate to HU was 79 %; 46 % were minor responders (with a reduction in transfusion rate by 50 % or more and/or an increase in their total hemoglobin level by 1–2 g/dl) and 33 % major responders (becoming transfusion-free and/or having an increase in total hemoglobin level by >2 g/dl). Mean hemoglobin increased among responders from 6.9 ± 0.9 g/dl to 8.3 ± 1.4 g/dl (p < 0.001). A significant rise in mean HbF (27.0 vs. 42.5 %; p < 0.011) and a decrease in median serum ferritin (800 vs. 644 ng/ml; p < 0.001) were also observed among responders (n = 45). Transfusions stopped in 44 % of pretreatment frequently transfused responders (n = 11/25). Splenic size decreased in 37 % of patients (n = 30/81). The predominant β-thalassemia mutation was 1–6 (T > C) in 32/42 (76 %) of studied patients; 28/32 were responders. Bivariate analysis showed no predictors of response as regards sex, pediatric and adult age, splenic status, or genotype. Hydroxycarbamide is a good therapeutic modality in the management of pediatric as in adult TI patients. It can minimize the need for blood transfusion, concomitant iron overload, and blood-born viral transmission especially in developing countries like Egypt.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Weatherall DJ, Clegg JB (2001) The thalassemia syndromes, 4th edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford, United Kingdom
Rund D, Rachmilewitz E (2005) β-thalassemia. N Engl J Med 353:1135–1146
Najar R, Kaspar H, Shabaklo H, Makhoul N, Zalloua O (2004) Accurate and rapid prenatal diagnosis of the most frequent East Mediterranean β-thalassemia mutations. Am J Hematol 75(4):22–24
Thein SL (2005) Pathophysiology of ß-thalassemia—A guide to molecular therapies: Hematology; (1) 31
Higgs DR, Thein SL, Woods WG (2001) The molecular pathology of the thalassaemias. In: Weatherall DJ, Clegg B (eds) The thalassaemia syndromes, 4th edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford, England, pp 133–191
Koren A, Levin C, Dgany O, Kransnov T, Elhasid R, Zalman L, Palmor H, Tamary H (2008) Response to hydroxyurea therapy in β-thalassemia. Am J Hematol 83(5):366–370
Zeng YT, Huang SZ, Ren ZR, Lu ZH, Zeng FY, Schechter AN, Rodgers GP (1995) Hydroxyurea therapy in beta-thalassaemia intermedia: improvement in haematological parameters due to enhanced beta-globin synthesis. Br J Hematol 90(3):557–563
Bradai M, Abad MT, Pissard S et al (2003) Hydroxyurea can eliminate transfusion requirements in children with severe β-thalassemia. Blood 102:1529–1530
Yavarian M, Karimi M, Bakker E et al (2004) Response to hydroxyurea treatment in Iranian transfusion-dependent b-thalassemia patients. Haematologica 89:1172–1178
Alebouyeh M, Moussavi F, Haddad-Deylami H et al (2004) Hydroxyurea in the treatment of major b-thalassemia and importance of genetic screening. Ann Haematol 83:430–433
Camaschella C, Cappellini MD (1995) Thalassemia intermedia. Molecular basis of disease. Haematologica 80:58–68
Tan GB, Aw TC, Dunstan RA, Lee SH (1993) Evaluation of high performance liquid chromatography for routine estimation of haemoglobins A2 and F. J Clin Pathol 46(9):852–856
Hussein IR, Temtamy SA, El-Beshlawy A, Fearon C, Shalaby Z, Vassilopoulos G, Kazazian HH (1993) Molecular characterization of β-thalassemia in Egyptians. Hum Mutat 2(1):488–452
El-Gawhary S, El-Shafie S, Niazi M, Aziz M, El-Beshlawy A (2007) Study of beta-Thalassemia mutations using the polymerase chain reaction-amplification refractory mutation system and direct DNA sequencing techniques in a group of Egyptian Thalassemia patients. Hemoglobin 31(1):63–69
Dixit A, Chatterjee TT, Mishra P et al (2005) Hydroxyurea in thalassemia intermedia—a promising therapy. Ann Hematol 84:441–446
Charache S, Terrin ML, Moore RD et al (1995) Effect of hydroxyurea on the frequency of painful crises in sickle cell anemia. Investigators of the Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Anemia. N Engl J Med 332:1317–1322
Steinberg MH, Barton F, Castro O et al (2003) Effect of hydroxyurea on mortality and morbidity in adult sickle cell anemia: Risks and benefits up to 9 years of treatment. JAMA 289:1645–1651
Loukopoulos D, Voskaridou E, Stamoulakatou A et al (1998) Hydroxyurea therapy in thalassemia. Ann N Y Acad Sci 850:120–128
Styles L, Lewis B, Foote D et al (1998) Preliminary report: hydroxyurea produces significant clinical response in thalassemia intermedia. Ann N Y Acad Sci 850:461–462
Hoppe C, Vichinsky E, Lewis B, Foote D, Styles L (1999) Hydroxyurea and sodium phenylbutyrate therapy in thalassemia intermedia. Am J Hematol 62:221–227
Karimi M, Darzi H, Yavarian M (2005) Hematologic and clinical responses of thalassemia intermedia patients to hydroxyurea during 6 years of therapy in Iran. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 27:380–385
Ehsani MA, Hedayati-Asl AA, Bagheri A, Zeinali S, Rashidi A (2009) Hydroxyurea-induced hematological response in transfusion-independent beta thalassemia intermedia: case series and review of literature. Pediatr Hematol Oncol 26(8):560–565
Chang YP, Littera R, Garau R et al (2001) The role of heterocellular hereditary persistence of fetal haemoglobin in β0-thalassaemia intermedia. Br J Haematol 114:899–906
Bradai M, Pissard S, Abad MT, Dechartres A, Ribeil JA, Landais P, De Montalembert M (2007) Decreased transfusion needs with hydroxyurea therapy in Algerian patients with thalassemia major or intermedia. Transfusion 47(10):1830–1836
Cang YC, Smith KD, Moore RD, Serjeant GR, Dover GJ (1995) An analysis of fetal haemoglobin variation in sickle cell disease: the relative contributions of the X-linked factor, b-globin haplotype, a-globin gene number, gender and age. Blood 85:1111–1117
Chong SS, Boehm CD, Higgs DR, Cutting GR (2000) Single tube multiplex-PCR screen for common deletional determinants of α-thalassemia. Blood 95:360–362
Higgs DR, Aldridge BE, Lamb J, Clegg JB, Weatheral DJ, Hayes RJ et al (1982) Interaction of alpha-thalassemia and homozygous sickle-cell disease. N Engl J Med 306:1441–1446
Wang M, Tang DC, Liu W, Chin K, Zhu JG, Fibach E et al (2002) Hydroxyurea exerts bimodal dose-dependent effects on erythropoiesis in human cultured erythroid cells via distinct pathways. Br J Haematol 119:1098–1105
Panigrahi I, Dixit A, Arora S et al (2005) Do alpha deletions influence hydroxyurea response in thalassemia intermedia? Hematology 10:61–66
Italia KY, Jijina FJ, Merchant R et al (2009) Response to hydroxyurea in beta thalassemia major and intermedia: experience in western India. Clin Chim Acta 407(1–2):10–15
Karimi M, Cohan N, Moosavizadeh K, Falahi MJ, Haghpanah S (2010) Adverse effects of hydroxyurea in β-thalassemia intermedia patients: 10 years’ experience. Pediatr Hematol Oncol 27(3):205–211
Conflict of Interest
All authors have no conflict of interest that could inappropriately influence this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
El-Beshlawy, A., El-Ghamrawy, M., EL-Ela, M.A. et al. Response to hydroxycarbamide in pediatric β-thalassemia intermedia: 8 years’ follow-up in Egypt. Ann Hematol 93, 2045–2050 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2154-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2154-5