A national Danish proof of concept on feasibility and safety of home -based intensive chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Technological advances have made it possible to offer home-based chemotherapy to patients without health care professionals being present. Prior studies on effects of home-based treatment lack inclusion of patients with hematologic malignancies. We present data from a multicenter single-arm feasibility and safety study of home-based intensive chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia and their quality of life and psychological wellbeing. This national study included patients from six sites in Denmark who received intensive chemotherapy on programmed CADD Solis infusion pumps through a central venous catheter and were also managed as outpatients during treatment-induced pancytopenia. Data are presented from 104 patients, receiving 272 treatments with 1.096 (mean 4.57, SD 3.0) home infusion days out of 1.644 treatment days (67 %). Sixty-two of 168 (36.9 %) reinduction and consolidation treatment cycles ensuing pancytopenia phases were solely handled in the outpatient clinic. Patients reported high satisfaction with home-based treatment, which had a positive influence on their ability to be involved in their treatment and be socially and physically active. No unexpected events occurred during the intervention. Overall, patients improved in all quality of life outcomes over time. Home-based intensive chemotherapy treatment was feasible and safe in this population. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04904211.

The Danish Myelodysplastic Syndromes Database: Patient Characteristics and Validity of Data Records.

BACKGROUND: The Danish Myelodysplastic Syndromes Database (DMDSD) comprises nearly all patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in Denmark since 2010. The DMDSD has not yet been used for epidemiological research and the quality of registered variables remains to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics of the patients registered in the DMDSD and to calculate predictive values and the proportion of missing values of registered data records. METHODS: We performed a nationwide cross-sectional validation study of recorded disease and treatment data on MDS patients during 2010-2019. Patient characteristics and the proportion of missing values were tabulated. A random sample of 12% was drawn to calculate predictive values with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of 48 variables using information from medical records as a reference standard. RESULTS: Overall, 2284 patients were identified (median age: 76 years, men 62%). Of these, 10% had therapy-related MDS, and 6% had an antecedent hematological disease. Hemoglobin level was less than 6.2 mmol/L for 59% of patients. Within the first two years of treatment, 59% received transfusions, 35% received erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, and 15% were treated with a hypomethylating agent. For the majority of variables (around 80%), there were no missing data. A total of 260 medical records were available for validation. The positive predictive value of the MDS diagnosis was 92% (95% CI: 88-95). Predictive values ranged from 64% to 100% and exceeded 90% for 36 out of 48 variables. Stratification by year of diagnosis suggested that the positive predictive value of the MDS diagnosis improved from 88% before 2015 to 95% after. CONCLUSION: In this study, there was a high accuracy of recorded data and a low proportion of missing data. Thus, the DMDSD serves as a valuable data source for future epidemiological studies on MDS.

Gender difference and relationship of insulin resistance with microalbuminuria type-2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of insulin resistance with microalbuminuria in patients of type-2 Diabetes mellitus and observe gender difference if any. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Diabetes Clinic of Combined Military Hospital, Malir Cantt, from April to August 2007. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and fifty five patients of type-2 Diabetes mellitus were included in the study who had either microalbuminuria or normoalbuminuria. Body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure were recorded. Fasting venous blood sample was collected for plasma glucose (FPG), serum insulin, total and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, creatinine and HbA1c. Urine albumin excretion was determined using urine albumin to creatinine ratio. Insulin resistance was calculated from fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin levels, using homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Correlation and association testing was carried out with significance at p<0.05. RESULTS: Microalbuminuria was found to be significantly correlated with HOMA-IR (r=0.33, p<0.001), serum insulin (r=0.28, p=<0.001), body mass index (r=0.18, p=0.02) and waist circumference (r=0.21, p=0.008). This correlation was more significant in women (n=85, r=0.48, p=<0.0001) as compared to men (n=70, r=0.14, p=0.12). The correlation between HOMA-IR and urine albumin excretion remained highly significant (p=0.001) after controlling for gender, age, duration of diabetes, waist circumference, hypertension, triglycerides and HbA1c. CONCLUSION: Urinary albumin excretion in patients of type-2 diabetes is strongly associated with insulin resistance and related cardiovascular risk factors. This association appears to be stronger in women than the men, in our population.