Luspatercept to treat ß-thalassemia.

Recently, after years of research often characterized by disappointments and frustrations, finally a new drug impacting on pathological human erythropoiesis has been developed and approved. This drug, luspatercept-aamt (Reblozyl), proved to be effective in both malignant and nonmalignant disease characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis with consequent life-threatening severe anemia. Moreover, for the first time, a medication demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness in ß-thalassemia where no other drug, including recombinant human erythropoietin, showed effectiveness in improving anemia. Despite recent impressive advances in understanding human normal and abnormal erythropoiesis, there are few new drugs and limited pharma research focusing on ineffective erythropoiesis. This review will discuss recent advances in understanding normal and pathological erythropoiesis that represent the background to discuss pharmacology, toxicology, efficacy, safety and effectiveness of this new drug for the treatment of human ß-thalassemia.

Hemopoietic stem cell transplantation in thalassemia: a report from the European Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Hemoglobinopathy Registry, 2000-2010.

Allogeneic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only method currently available to cure transfusion-dependent thalassemia major that has been widely used worldwide. To verify transplantation distribution, demography, activity, policies and outcomes inside the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), we performed a retrospective non-interventional study, extracting data from the EBMT hemoglobinopathy prospective registry database. We included 1493 consecutive patients with thalassemia major transplanted between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2010. In total, 1359 (91%) transplants were performed on patients <18 years old, 1061 were from a human leukocyte Ag-identical sibling donor. After a median observation time of 2 years, the 2-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS; that is, thalassemia-free survival) were 88 ± 1% and 81 ± 1%, respectively. Transplantation from a human leukocyte Ag-identical sibling offered the best results, with OS and EFS of 91 ± 1% and 83 ± 1%, respectively. No significant differences in survival were reported between countries. The threshold age for optimal transplant outcomes was around 14 years, with an OS of 90-96% and an EFS of 83-93% when transplants were performed before this age. Allogeneic HSCT for thalassemia is a curative approach that is employed internationally and produces excellent results.

Safety of hematopoietic stem cell donation in glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient donors.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common RBC enzymatic disorder in humans capable of producing hemolytic events. Recently, concern has been raised about using G6PD-deficienct subjects as hemopoietic stem cell (HSC) donors. In a 10-year period, 101 consecutive HSC donors were submitted to donation procedures for transplantation inside their families in our Center. All donors were tested for G6PD and 19 (19%) turned out to be G6PD-deficient. The donors' safety and the effectiveness of these transplant outcomes were compared with those of the remaining 82 donors. No difference could be observed in any safety parameter between the two groups. No difference was recorded in donors' complications rates, in HSC production, in quantity of growth factor required, in Hb early drop or in Hb recovery. No difference was found in transplant outcome. From this retrospective analysis, we conclude that a G6PD-deficient but otherwise healthy volunteer can be selected as a HSC donor.