Effectiveness of palifermin in the prevention of oral mucositis in patients with haematological cancers

• Published in: Farmacia hospitalaria Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 163 - 169
• Main Authors: Ayago Flores, D, Ferriols Lisart, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Spain 01.07.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cohort Studies; Disease Susceptibility; Drug Evaluation; Female; Fibroblast Growth Factor 7 - therapeutic use; Hematologic Neoplasms - complications; Hematologic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Humans; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Narcotics - therapeutic use; Neutropenia - epidemiology; Parenteral Nutrition - statistics & numerical data; Retrospective Studies; Sepsis - epidemiology; Stomatitis - chemically induced; Stomatitis - drug therapy; Stomatitis - epidemiology; Stomatitis - prevention & control; Stomatitis - therapy; Transplantation Conditioning - adverse effects
• ISSN: 1130-6343
• DOI: 10.1016/j.farma.2009.12.005

To assess the effectiveness of palifermin for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients with haematological cancers. Retrospective observational study of cohorts of patients with haematological cancer undergoing cytotoxic therapy causing hematopoietic ablation. The main variable assessed was the duration of the oral mucositis. Secondary variables assessed were incidence of mucositis, febrile or septic neutropenia and the administration of opioids and parenteral nutrition. We included 36 patients in this study, 11 in the group that received palifermin and 25 in the control group. The duration of oral mucositis was 4.6+/-3.1 days (median: 5 days) in the patients treated with palifermin in comparison with 7.4+/-4.0 days (median: 6 days) in patients treated with conventional prophylactic therapy (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were seen in the incidence of mucositis, febrile or septic neutropenia, opioid administration of the use of parenteral nutrition. Prophylactic treatment with palifermin reduces the duration of oral mucosities in patients with haematological cancer. Further studies are necessary with larger samples to be able to assess palifermin and its influence on other variables, such as incidence of mucositis, sepsis, febrile neutropenia, etc.