Feasibility of a dose-adjusted fludarabine–melphalan conditioning prior autologous stem cell transplantation in a dialysis-dependent patient with mantle cell lymphoma

Chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the hemodialysis patient: A comprehensive review

Chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the hemodialysis (HD) patient is a challenging situation. Because many drugs are predominantly eliminated by the kidneys, chemotherapy in the HD patient requires special considerations concerning dose adjustments to avoid overdose and toxicities. Conversely, some drugs are removed by HD and may expose the patient to undertreatment, therefore the timing of drug administration in relation to HD sessions must be carefully planned. Also, the metabolites of some drugs show different toxicities and dialysability as compared with the parent drug, therefore this must also be catered for. However, the pharmacokinetics of many chemotherapeutics and their metabolites in HD patients are unknown, and the fact that NHL patients are often treated with distinct multiagent chemotherapy regimens makes the situation more complicated. In a realm where uncertainty prevails, case reports and case series reporting on actual treatment and outcomes are extremely valuable and can aid physicians in decision making from drug selection to dosing. We carried out an exhaustive review of the literature and adopted 48 manuscripts consisting of 66 HD patients undergoing 71 chemotherapy regimens for NHL, summarized the data, and provide recommendations concerning dose adjustments and timing of administration for individual chemotherapeutics where possible. The chemotherapy regimens studied in this review include, but are not limited to, rituximab, cyclophosphamide + vincristine + prednisolone (CVP) and cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + vincristine + prednisolone (CHOP)-like regimens, chlorambucil, ibrutinib, bendamustine, methotrexate, platinum compounds, cytarabine, gemcitabine, etoposide, ifosfamide, melphalan, busulfan, fludarabine, mogamulizumab, brentuximab vedotin, and 90 Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan.

Salvage Chemotherapy Followed by Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation Using Targeted Busulfan for Refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma With Dialysis-Dependent End-Stage Renal Disease

BACKGROUND

A treatment strategy is needed for hemodialysis-dependent patients with end-stage renal disease who have relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We examined the feasibility of salvage chemotherapy followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) and busulfan as a conditioning regimen.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We provided a patient with refractory DLBCL who was receiving hemodialysis with modified salvage chemotherapies that were based on the mechanism of drug pharmacokinetics and an evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of busulfan. After chemotherapy, the patient underwent ASCT.

RESULTS

The regimen was successfully administered without adverse events.

CONCLUSION

Chemotherapy followed by ASCT using a conditioning regimen of reduced melphalan and pharmacokinetically targeted busulfan is a promising strategy for treating patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL who also have end-stage renal disease and are receiving hemodialysis.

Preparative regimen dosing for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic kidney disease: analysis of the literature and recommendations

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potentially life-saving therapy that has traditionally been associated with high treatment-related mortality due to direct regimen toxicity and a high incidence of graft-versus-host disease. Historically, pre-existing renal insufficiency has been considered an exclusion criterion for transplantation. The advent of nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens as a less toxic modality for treatment has made HSCT more accessible to elderly patients and patients with comorbidities, such as renal impairment. However, there is no clear standard for how to dose preparative regimens for patients with chronic renal impairment who undergo HSCT. This article serves as a review of the current literature to provide dosing recommendations for commonly used preparative agents in the setting of chronic kidney disease, with the aim of providing optimal dosing for this patient population.

Management of hematological malignancies in patients affected by renal failure

The management of hematological malignancies (HM) in renally impaired patients may be a difficult task. Indeed, the kidney represents a major elimination pathway for many chemotherapeutic agents and their metabolites, whose serum levels are not usually measured in daily clinical practice. In addition, many antineoplastic drugs have a narrow therapeutic index for which they require dose adjustment when administered to patients with renal failure. Only limited data regarding the use of chemotherapy in patients with renal impairment and in those on dialysis are available. Indeed, renal patients with HM are often excluded from most clinical trials. Thus far, in order to provide recommendations, we have reviewed the pertinent literature, gathering information from published guidelines regarding chemotherapy in patients with kidney dysfunction and from articles describing the use of individual agents in renal patients with HM.