Drugs
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Eltrombopag (Promacta(®); Revolade(®)) is an orally active thrombopoietin receptor agonist recently approved in the USA and the EU for use in paediatric patients aged ≥1 year with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) who have had an insufficient response or are refractory to other ITP treatments (e.g. corticosteroids, immunoglobulins or splenectomy). The efficacy of 7 or 13 weeks' therapy with oral eltrombopag (up to 75 mg/day) was compared with that of placebo in patients aged 1-17 years with previously treated chronic ITP in randomized, double-blind, multicentre phase II and III trials (PETIT and PETIT-2). In these trials, the platelet response rate (primary endpoint of PETIT) and the sustained platelet response rate (primary endpoint of PETIT-2) were significantly higher with eltrombopag than with placebo. ⋯ During longer-term therapy (open-label treatment period for ≥24 weeks), eltrombopag maintained platelet counts above 50 × 10(9)/L in the majority of patients and approximately one-half of patients were able to reduce or discontinue concurrent ITP drugs. Eltrombopag was generally well tolerated. Current evidence suggests that eltrombopag is a valuable addition to the limited treatment options available for the management of chronic ITP in paediatric patients with an inadequate response to first-line therapies.
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Azacitidine (Vidaza(®)) is a pyrimidine nucleoside analogue of cytidine and is approved in the EU for use in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), including older patients (aged ≥65 years) with AML with >30 % bone marrow blasts (BMB) who are ineligible for haematopoietic stem cell transplant. This article reviews the clinical efficacy and tolerability of azacitidine in the treatment of these patient populations, as well as summarizing its pharmacological properties. ⋯ Azacitidine is the only approved hypomethylating agent that has been shown to prolong overall survival compared with conventional care regimens and thus, it is recommended as the first-line hypomethylating agent for most patients with higher-risk MDS. Hence, azacitidine remains and important agent for use in the treatment of higher-risk MDS and AML, including in older patients with AML with >30 % BMB.