Safety and Cost-effectiveness of Outpatient Administration of High-dose Chemotherapy in Children With Ewing Sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Children with Ewing sarcoma (ES) are subjected to an interval-compressed regimen with cycles of chemotherapy given every 2 weeks, which is nowadays considered to be the standard of care for individuals with such a case. We developed institutional clinical practice guidelines (CPG) applying outpatient administration in regard to this regimen. This study intends to evaluate our institutional experience with this regimen. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with ES who were treated using interval-compressed protocol of 14 cycles consisting of alternating cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine (VDC) and ifosfamide, etoposide (IE) with a maximum dose of doxorubicin of 375 mg/m. Cycles were subsequently followed by G-CSF administration until count recovery was recorded. Patients treated using our guidelines from June 2013 to June 2015 were eligible for these guidelines. Patients younger than 3 years at the time of diagnosis were not eligible for outpatient administration of chemotherapy. RESULTS: In total 12 patients with localized ES or lung-only metastasis were eligible. By the time of analysis, 153 cycles were administered to these patients. Eight cycles for 6 patients were administered on an inpatient basis while the rest (N=145) were administered in the outpatient chemotherapy unit. The median number of cycles per patient were 14 (with a range of 5 to 14). Ninety cycles (59%) were administered on time per CPG. The median interval between these cycles were 16 days (range, 12 to 36 days). The median interval between induction and consolidation cycles were 14 and 17 days, respectively. Neutropenia was reported at the time of each next cycle for 12 cycles. Transient gross hematuria was reported in 1 patient only. In addition, a cost saving of 21% (approximately US$ 4500) were achieved per patient. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that the outpatient administration of interval-compressed regimen is safe and associated with acceptable adherence to this regimen.

Feasibility of high-dose chemotherapy protocols to treat infants with malignant central nervous system tumors: Experience from a middle-income country.

BACKGROUND: Results of high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) protocols for the management of malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors in infants are mostly reported in high-income countries. We evaluated the feasibility and results of such protocols in a middle-income country (Jordan). METHODS: A retrospective study of infants' charts with CNS tumors between 2006 and 2015 who were treated according to HeadStart (HS) protocols. Data included patients' demographics, chemotherapy complications, and cost. RESULTS: We identified 18 patients with median age 29 months (range, 9-62 months) at diagnosis (12 HS-I and six HS-II). Distribution according to pathology was: atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT) (nine), primitive neuoroectodermal tumors (PNET)/pineoblastoma (five), and medulloblastoma (four). Six patients (33%) had metastatic disease, and 14 (78%) had an incomplete resection. Eleven patients achieved partial or complete remission, two stabilized, and five progressed. Ten patients did not proceed to HDCT due to progression (five), financial reasons (two), failure to collect stem cells (one), and undocumented reasons (two). Seventy-eight chemotherapy cycles were administered (median interval 26 days). Main complications during induction and consolidation were febrile neutropenia (73% and 100%), documented infections (8% and 13%), and mucositis (12% and 88%), respectively. Three patients developed moderate hearing loss. No protocol-related mortality was reported. At the last follow-up, five patients were alive: three with medulloblastoma (19, 29, and 89 months) and two with ATRT (18 and 42 months). Three survivors received focal/craniospinal radiation. The median cost of a complete HS protocol, excluding surgery/radiotherapy, was $103 500 per patient; 39% of the median cost was related to pharmacy expenses. CONCLUSIONS: These protocols were manageable in our context of limited health care resources. However, considering the significant costs and the modest survival rate, better selection criteria need to be used to identify patients likely to benefit from this approach.