A Preliminary Report of Clinical Study on Immunosuppressive Therapy Combined with Avatrombopag As the First-Line Treatment for Severe Aplastic Anaemia in Elderly Patients

Objective The objective is to evaluate the early hematologic response (HR) rate and safety of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) combined with avatrombopag as the first-line treatment for severe/very sever aplastic anaemia(V/SAA) in elderly patients. Methods Prospective，multi-center, single-arm, clinical research. IST treatment regimen: pig anti-human lymphocyte globulin (ALG-p, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd. China) 20 mg/kg/d for five days and cyclosporin A (CsA) 3 mg/kg/d with adjusted concentration of 150–250 ng/mL, and oral avatrombopag 40 mg/d from the first day of IST initiation up to six months. The patients’ treatment responses were evaluated and the major adverse events were collected. Results Ten patients have been enrolled in the study at our centre from June 2022 to October 2022.Among 10 patients, six had SAA and four had VSAA; male: female = 1:1, median age of 68 (60–82) years, and median time from diagnosis to treatment of 44 (20–480) days. The patients’ treatment responses were evaluated after initiation of IST, at 3 months: 7 HR [1 complete response (CR), 3 good partial response (GPR), 3 partial response (PR), and 3 no response (NR)]; and at 6 months: 8 HR (1 CR, 5 GPR, 2 PR) and 2 deaths due to infection. The median time of red-cell transfusion independence was 60 (3–168) days in HR patients and that of platelets was 60 (16–153) days. No relapse and clonal evolution occurred within six months. Major adverse events within three months were infection in five cases, electrolyte disturbance in five cases, and cardiac insufficiency in three cases. Liver function abnormalities occurred in two cases, both of which showed elevated alanine aminotransferase up to 174 μ/L and 208.7 μ/L on day 8 and 20 of IST treatment, respectively. Two of the five infected patients had sepsis caused by Enterobacter cloacae. Except for infection, the remaining adverse events were of grade I–II. All the adverse events were effectively controlled. Table 1 summarises the characteristics and clinical status of patients before and after the treatment.

Conclusion This preliminary study of IST combined with avatrombopag for the treatment of elderly patients with V/SAA showed the potential of the combination to improve haematologic response rate and quality in elderly patients with AA, and it is well tolerated as well.

Keywords: immunosuppressive therapy, severe aplastic anaemia, avatrombopag, elderly