Analysis of hematological parameters as prognostic markers for toxicity and survival of 223Radium treatment

Abstract

²²³Radium (²²³Ra) has emerged as treatment prolonging survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). As ²²³Ra can cause hematotoxicity (HT), pre-existing hematopoiesis might influence the efficacy of ²²³Ra and the rate of hematotoxicity, but as to our knowledge such data has not been published yet, we retrospectively conducted an analysis on patients receiving ²²³Ra.

54 patients treated with ²²³Ra had a median survival of 67 weeks, which was significantly reduced in patients with pre-existing Hb toxicity (Tox) grade 2 (48 weeks P = 0.008) as compared to grade 1 (67 weeks) and normal levels of Hb (not reached); survival in patients with Plt Tox grade 1 was significantly reduced (44 weeks) as compared to normal Plt counts (71 weeks, P = 0.033). Patients with impaired hematopoiesis regarding Hb and Plts developed significantly more grade 3 and 4 HT (Hb < 10 g/dl: 42.9% [3/7] vs 10.6% [5/47], P < 0.001; Plt < 150 G/L: 28.6% [2/7] vs 6.4% [3/47], P = 0.002) and received significantly fewer treatment cycles (Hb <10 g/dl: 5.1 vs 5.8, P = 0.04; Plt < 150 G/L: 3.4 vs 5.6, P < 0.001). These results imply that pre-existing impaired hematopoiesis, in particular thrombocytopenia and anemia, before ²²³Ra therapy, is an important risk factor for worse outcome of treatment with ²²³Ra.