Efficacy of Eltrombopag to Improve Thrombocytopenia of MYH9-related Disease

Summary

The term MYH9-related disease (MYH9RD) includes four genetic disorders: May-Hegglin anomaly, Sebastian syndrome, Fechtner syndrome, and Epstein syndrome. All these disorders derive from mutation of a unique gene, named MYH9, and they have been recognized as different clinical presentations of a single illness that was named MYH9RD. All patients affected by MYH9RD present since birth with thrombocytopenia, which can result in a variable degree of bleeding diathesis; some of them subsequently develop additional clinical manifestations, such as renal damage, sensorineural hearing loss, and/or presenile cataracts. Eltrombopag is an oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist that stimulates proliferation and differentiation of megakaryocytes, the bone marrow cells that produce blood platelets. This drug is effective in increasing platelet count in healthy volunteers, as well as in patients affected by some acquired thrombocytopenias, such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and HCV related thrombocytopenia. The purpose of this study is to determine if eltrombopag, administered orally at the dose of 50 or 75 mg/daily for up to 6 weeks, is effective in increasing platelet count of patients affected by MYH9RD. Further aims of this study are to test if eltrombopag is effective in reducing bleeding tendency of MYH9RD patients; to evaluate safety and tolerability of eltrombopag in patients with MYH9RD; to evaluate in vitro function of platelets produced during therapy in patients responding to this drug.

Timeline

Start

2009-01

Primary completion

2010-06

Completion

2010-06

Publications

• Background Seri M, Cusano R, Gangarossa S, Caridi G, Bordo D, Lo Nigro C, Ghiggeri GM, Ravazzolo R, Savino M, Del Vecchio M, d'Apolito M, Iolascon A, Zelante LL, Savoia A, Balduini CL, Noris P, Magrini U, Belletti S, Heath KE, Babcock M, Glucksman MJ, Aliprandis E, Bizzaro N, Desnick RJ, Martignetti JA. Mutations in MYH9 result in the May-Hegglin anomaly, and Fechtner and Sebastian syndromes. The May-Heggllin/Fechtner Syndrome Consortium. Nat Genet. 2000 Sep;26(1):103-5. doi: 10.1038/79063.
• Background Seri M, Savino M, Bordo D, Cusano R, Rocca B, Meloni I, Di Bari F, Koivisto PA, Bolognesi M, Ghiggeri GM, Landolfi R, Balduini CL, Zelante L, Ravazzolo R, Renieri A, Savoia A. Epstein syndrome: another renal disorder with mutations in the nonmuscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene. Hum Genet. 2002 Feb;110(2):182-6. doi: 10.1007/s00439-001-0659-1. Epub 2001 Dec 14.
• Background Seri M, Pecci A, Di Bari F, Cusano R, Savino M, Panza E, Nigro A, Noris P, Gangarossa S, Rocca B, Gresele P, Bizzaro N, Malatesta P, Koivisto PA, Longo I, Musso R, Pecoraro C, Iolascon A, Magrini U, Rodriguez Soriano J, Renieri A, Ghiggeri GM, Ravazzolo R, Balduini CL, Savoia A. MYH9-related disease: May-Hegglin anomaly, Sebastian syndrome, Fechtner syndrome, and Epstein syndrome are not distinct entities but represent a variable expression of a single illness. Medicine (Baltimore). 2003 May;82(3):203-15. doi: 10.1097/01.md.0000076006.64510.5c.
• Background Bussel JB, Cheng G, Saleh MN, Psaila B, Kovaleva L, Meddeb B, Kloczko J, Hassani H, Mayer B, Stone NL, Arning M, Provan D, Jenkins JM. Eltrombopag for the treatment of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 29;357(22):2237-47. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa073275.
• Background McHutchison JG, Dusheiko G, Shiffman ML, Rodriguez-Torres M, Sigal S, Bourliere M, Berg T, Gordon SC, Campbell FM, Theodore D, Blackman N, Jenkins J, Afdhal NH; TPL102357 Study Group. Eltrombopag for thrombocytopenia in patients with cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 29;357(22):2227-36. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa073255.
• Pecci A, Gresele P, Klersy C, Savoia A, Noris P, Fierro T, Bozzi V, Mezzasoma AM, Melazzini F, Balduini CL. Eltrombopag for the treatment of the inherited thrombocytopenia deriving from MYH9 mutations. Blood. 2010 Dec 23;116(26):5832-7. doi: 10.1182/blood-2010-08-304725. Epub 2010 Sep 15.

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Indications