Deferasirox plus deferoxamine is more effective than deferasirox alone for treating iron overload in patients with thalassemia major, according to a single-center study.
Over the course of 1 year of treatment, deferasirox plus deferoxamine significantly increased myocardial T2* and significantly reduced serum ferritin, whereas deferasirox alone had no significant effect on either endpoint. Neither treatment had a significant effect on hepatic iron.
Deferasirox plus deferoxamine caused a significantly greater increase in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and bilirubin. Other adverse events were similar between the treatment groups.
Aziz Eghbali, MD, of Arak (Iran) University of Medical Sciences and colleagues described this study in Transfusion and Apheresis Science.
The team conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of patients with thalassemia major. Of the 62 patients enrolled, 55 were randomized and evaluable. At baseline, the mean patient age was 24.5 years, and 67.3% were female.
The patients were randomized to receive oral deferasirox at 30 mg/kg daily either alone (n = 27) or with subcutaneous deferoxamine at 50 mg/kg for 5 days a week (n = 28). In both groups, patients received treatment for 12 months.
There were no significant differences between the groups in baseline characteristics such as myocardial or hepatic iron, transfusion volume, or white blood cell and platelet counts.