Increased risk of severe cutaneous adverse reactions when cladribine is used together with other medications with a propensity for skin reactions

Abstract

Cladribine is a purine analog used in first-line treatment of hairy cell leukemia and in relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic anemia. Although cladribine is typically associated with mild, self-limited skin reactions, there is increasing evidence that cladribine may increase the risk of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) when combined with drugs classically associated with SCAR (e.g. allopurinol) beyond what would be expected for either drug alone, possibly due to cladribine-induced lymphopenia. We analyzed all SCAR cases reported for cladribine in Janssen’s Global Safety Database and found that 26/35 (74.3%) reported concomitant drugs known to be associated with SCAR, most commonly sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMX/TMP) and allopurinol. In addition, a review of the WHO VigiBase showed that several drugs, including penicillins, SMX/TMP, and allopurinol had a statistically significant contribution to cladribine-associated SCAR. These results lend further support that cladribine may increase the propensity of these drugs to cause SCARs.

Keywords:

• Cladribine
• Severe cutaneous adverse reactions
• Hairy cell leukemia
• drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms
• toxic epidermal necrolysis
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Iolanda Cirillo, MBS, and other colleagues at Janssen R&D, LLC, for their thoughtful review of this analysis.

Disclosure statement

JH, MJ, and SSS are employees of Janssen R&D, LLC, and may own or have options to own company stock.

Additional information

Funding

No additional specific funding or grant support was provided.