3 research outputs found
A cost-effectiveness analysis of Erwinia asparaginase therapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Objectives: Erwinia asparaginase is used as a second-line formulation after a neutralizing hypersensitivity reaction to the first-line formulation of asparaginase. Here, we have performed a costeffectiveness analysis of Erwinia asparaginase treatment.
Methods: Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated according to the Dutch Childhood
Oncology ALL-10 or ALL-11 protocol were included and initially treated with PEGasparaginase in
the intensification phase. The total treatment costs of this treatment phase, quality of life (QoL),
and life years saved (LYS) were studied for two scenarios: (a) patients were switched to Erwinia
asparaginase treatment after a hypersensitivity reaction, or (b) asparaginase would have been
permanently stopped.
Results: Sixty-eight patients were included. There was no difference in QoL between patients
with and without a hypersensitivity reaction. The mean costs of the intensification phase per
patient were 175,632 if patients had to switch
to Erwinia asparaginase, and 1892 for scenario 1 and 1020, which is
modest in view of the total costs. Moreover, when asparaginase treatment can be completed by
switching to Erwinia asparaginase, relapses—and consequential costs—will be avoided. Therefore,
from a cost perspective, we recommend a switch to Erwinia asparaginase to complete asparaginase
treatment
Rintatolimod induces antiviral activities in human pancreatic cancer cells
Severe acute respiratory virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally leading to a devastat-ing loss of life. Large registry studies have begun to shed light on the epidemiological and clinical vulnerabilities of cancer patients who succumb to or endure poor outcomes of SARS-CoV-2. Specific treatment for COVID-19 infections in cancer patients is lacking while the demand for treatment is increasing. Therefore, we explored the effect of Rintatolimod (Ampligen®) (AIM ImmunoTech, Flor-ida, USA), a Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist, to treat uninfected human pancreatic cancer cells (HPACs). The direct effect of Rintatolimod was measured by targeted gene expression profiling and by proteomics measurements. Our results show that Rintatolimod induces an antiviral effect in HPACs by inducing RNase-L-dependent and independent pathways of the innate immune system. Treatment with Rintatolimod activated the interferon signaling pathway, leading to the overexpres-sion of several cytokines and chemokines in epithelial cells. Furthermore, Rintatolimod treatment increased the expression of angiogenesis-related genes without promoting fibrosis, which is the main cause of death in patients with COVID-19. We conclude that Rintatolimod could be considered an early additional treatment option for cancer patients who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 to pre-vent the complicated severity of the disease.</p