A Pilot Study of Allopurinol As A Modifier of 6-MP Metabolism in Pediatric ALL

Summary

This research is being done to determine if allopurinol can change the metabolism of the oral chemotherapeutic medication 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). 6-MP is originally started at a standard dose in children with ALL, but the dose is adjusted according to the absolute neutrophil count (ANC). Occasionally, 6-MP doses need to be increased in order to get the ANC into a specific target range. Also, increasing the 6-MP dose can lead to unwanted side effects, such as inflammation of the liver as shown by increases in laboratory values (ALT, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin), nausea, and abdominal discomfort. Previous studies in children with inflammatory bowel disease has shown that combining allopurinol with 6-MP can decrease side effects associated with high doses of 6-MP and also increase the efficacy of 6-MP. Allopurinol is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of tumor lysis syndrome in ALL. Through this research study, the investigators hope to show that the combination of allopurinol and 6-MP will be safe, tolerable, and effective in children with ALL.

Timeline

Start

2014-01-06

Primary completion

2020-04-06

Completion

2020-04-06

Publications

• Background Pui CH, Evans WE. Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. N Engl J Med. 2006 Jan 12;354(2):166-78. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra052603. No abstract available.
• Background Ansari A, Elliott T, Baburajan B, Mayhead P, O'Donohue J, Chocair P, Sanderson J, Duley J. Long-term outcome of using allopurinol co-therapy as a strategy for overcoming thiopurine hepatotoxicity in treating inflammatory bowel disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2008 Sep 15;28(6):734-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2008.03782.x.
• Background Rahhal RM, Bishop WP. Initial clinical experience with allopurinol-thiopurine combination therapy in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2008 Dec;14(12):1678-82. doi: 10.1002/ibd.20522.
• Background Sparrow MP, Hande SA, Friedman S, Lim WC, Reddy SI, Cao D, Hanauer SB. Allopurinol safely and effectively optimizes tioguanine metabolites in inflammatory bowel disease patients not responding to azathioprine and mercaptopurine. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2005 Sep 1;22(5):441-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2005.02583.x.
• Background Sparrow MP, Hande SA, Friedman S, Cao D, Hanauer SB. Effect of allopurinol on clinical outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease nonresponders to azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007 Feb;5(2):209-14. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2006.11.020.
• Background Koren G, Ferrazini G, Sulh H, Langevin AM, Kapelushnik J, Klein J, Giesbrecht E, Soldin S, Greenberg M. Systemic exposure to mercaptopurine as a prognostic factor in acute lymphocytic leukemia in children. N Engl J Med. 1990 Jul 5;323(1):17-21. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199007053230104.
• Background Balis FM, Holcenberg JS, Poplack DG, Ge J, Sather HN, Murphy RF, Ames MM, Waskerwitz MJ, Tubergen DG, Zimm S, Gilchrist GS, Bleyer WA. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral methotrexate and mercaptopurine in children with lower risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a joint children's cancer group and pediatric oncology branch study. Blood. 1998 Nov 15;92(10):3569-77.
• Background Pui CH, Mullighan CG, Evans WE, Relling MV. Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: where are we going and how do we get there? Blood. 2012 Aug 9;120(6):1165-74. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-05-378943. Epub 2012 Jun 22.
• Background Zimm S, Collins JM, O'Neill D, Chabner BA, Poplack DG. Inhibition of first-pass metabolism in cancer chemotherapy: interaction of 6-mercaptopurine and allopurinol. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1983 Dec;34(6):810-7. doi: 10.1038/clpt.1983.254.
• Background Elion GB. The purine path to chemotherapy. Science. 1989 Apr 7;244(4900):41-7. doi: 10.1126/science.2649979.
• Background Brackett J, Schafer ES, Leung DH, Bernhardt MB. Use of allopurinol in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia to reduce skewed thiopurine metabolism. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2014 Jun;61(6):1114-7. doi: 10.1002/pbc.24913. Epub 2013 Dec 27.
• Background Jharap B, Seinen ML, de Boer NK, van Ginkel JR, Linskens RK, Kneppelhout JC, Mulder CJ, van Bodegraven AA. Thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease patients: analyses of two 8-year intercept cohorts. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2010 Sep;16(9):1541-9. doi: 10.1002/ibd.21221.

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