The characteristics and risk factors of asparaginase-associated
pancreatitis in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics
and the risk factors for Asparaginase-associated pancreatitis (AAP) in
children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) under Taiwan Pediatric
Oncology Group (TPOG)-ALL regimen. Methods: The retrospective
hospital-based cohort study was conducted by reviewing the chart records
of total 191 pediatric ALL patients aged 1-18 years treated with
TPOG-ALL (2002 and 2013) protocols at the National Cheng Kung University
Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, from 2002 to 2019. The disease incidence,
clinical presentations, laboratory data, complications, and outcomes of
AAP were investigated. Results: The incidence of AAP among 191
ALL children was 4.7%. The incidence was significantly higher in
children treated with the TPOG-ALL-2013 (n=62) than TPOG-ALL-2002
(n=129) protocol (11.3% vs. 1.6%, p= 0.006). Multivariate analysis
identified using TPOG-ALL-2013 protocol was an independent risk factor
for AAP. All of the 9 AAP cases had associated complications, such as
systemic inflammatory response syndrome, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy,
liver dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia, jaundice, ascites, pleural effusion,
hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia. Pancreatic necrosis or
pseudocysts developed in 7 (78%) patients. Notably, 1 (11%) AAP cases
developed diabetes mellitus and 4 (44%) had chronic pancreatitis during
a 1-year observational period. None were mortality.
Conclusions: The incidence of AAP was 4.7% in ALL patients
treated with TPOG-ALL protocol. Although a higher cumulative dose of
Asparaginase in TPOG-ALL-2013 may attribute to the pancreatic toxicity,
unidentified factors such as genetic predisposition still need further
study.