Iron Chelators, Such as Deferasirox, When Combined With Hydroxyurea, Provide an Additional Benefit of Iron Chelation in Patients Receiving Chronic Transfusion Therapy

Abstract

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions have been established as one of the primary therapies in treating sickle cell anemia. However, they are not free of side effects, with overloading the body with iron being one of the most important. Iron chelation therapy greatly reduces the iron load of the body. In addition, hydroxyurea (HU), an oral chemotherapeutic drug also has a significant role in the treatment of the disease with beneficial effects on many of the clinical problems that arise, mainly in reducing painful crises. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of synergistic transfusion therapy and HU on the response to deferasirox (DFX) chelation therapy. Eighteen patients with sickle cell disease were divided into two groups based on their treatment, either with simple transfusions and DFX or with a combination of transfusion therapy, DFX and HU, and were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for liver iron concentration (LIC) and biochemistry. All patients completed the study. The results of the study showed improvement in serum ferritin (FER) levels and LIC after 12 months of therapy in both groups, especially in the group receiving the combination therapy with HU. In addition, there was a noteworthy improvement in serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels with serum creatinine (Cr) levels remaining stable during the study in both groups. Hydroxyurea, when combined with iron chelators such as DFX, provides an additional benefit of iron chelation in patients receiving chronic transfusion therapy.

Keywords:

• Hydroxyurea (HU)
• iron chelation therapy
• liver iron concentration (LIC)
• sickle cell disease

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.