Clinical trial and compassionate use experience with glucarpidase for methotrexate toxicity.

Abstract

6530 Background: High dose methotrexate (MTX) is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), osteogenic sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and other cancers. MTX-associated renal impairment with delayed MTX elimination develops after 2 to 10% of treatment cycles, exposing patients to elevated MTX concentrations with potential for enhanced MTX toxicity and prolonged hospitalization. Glucarpidase, a recombinant form of carboxypeptidase G2, rapidly hydrolyzes MTX into inactive metabolites and provides an alternate way of clearance in patients with delayed MTX elimination. Methods: From November 1993 to June 2009, 492 patients experiencing renal toxicity and delayed elimination of MTX were treated with glucarpidase (50 U/kg intravenously) in compassionate use trials conducted in the US and EU. Their outcomes are presented here. Results: The median age of the 492 patients was 18 yrs (range: 5 wks to 85 yrs). Sixty-three percent were male. Forty-one percent had NHL, 30% osteogenic sarcoma, 23% ALL, and 7% other malignancies. The median pre-glucarpidase MTX concentration was 17 µmol/L. Seventy-six percent of patients received 1 dose of glucarpidase, 22% received 2 doses, and 2% received 3 doses. The first dose of glucarpidase was given at a median of 3 days after MTX administration. One-hundred and fifty-six patients had MTX concentrations determined by HPLC. At the first measurement (median 15 minutes post-glucarpidase) MTX was reduced by a median of 99% relative to the pre-glucarpidase baseline. At the last measurement (median 40 hrs post-glucarpidase) median MTX reduction remained at 99% compared with baseline. In 410 patients with pre-glucarpidase renal impairment measured as CTCAE Grade 2 or higher, 64% recovered to Grade 0 or 1 after a median of 12.5 days post-glucarpidase. Glucarpidase was well-tolerated overall; adverse events included paresthesia (2.0%), flushing (1.8%) and headache (1.0%). Eight percent of patients died within 30 days of glucarpidase administration of causes unrelated to glucarpidase, as judged by the treating physician. Conclusions: Glucarpidase is well-tolerated and reduces MTX concentrations by 99% within 15 min of administration in patients with impaired renal clearance of MTX.