A clinical challenge: Treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in a Jehovah's Witness

Cárdenas-Araujo, Daniela; González‐López, Elías Eugenio; González-Leal, Xitlaly J; Jaime‐Pérez, José Carlos; Gómez‐Almaguer, David

doi:10.1016/j.bjhh.2016.05.003

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Several strategies have been implemented in the management of JW undergoing surgery [4] but guidance for systemic chemotherapy in patients with AML is very scarce. Only a few case reports and small case series have been published so far without giving detailed information on the clinical course [5][6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antineoplastic chemotherapy in Jehovah's Witness patients with acute myelogenous leukemia refusing blood products – a matched pair analysis

Wilop

Osieka

2017

Hematology

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Background: Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) may be cured in a substantial number of patients using intensive chemotherapeutic regimens leading to temporary severe myelosuppression. Patients belonging to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), however, are bound by their religious convictions not to accept blood products and are therefore at higher risk for life-threatening events. Reports how to handle this challenge are mainly anecdotal. Material and methods: We here report in much more detail about our experience with nine patients belonging to the denomination of JW who were treated for AML in our department from 1998 to 2007 and who explicitly wished to receive chemotherapy without blood transfusions. Results: Reduced dose induction chemotherapy administered by several treatment cycles to prevent sustained myelosuppression still led to complete remissions in three out of nine of JW patients but was associated with a high rate of relapse. No durable remission was achieved. The overall hazard ratio for death was 12.1 compared to a matched control group treated with full transfusion support. The predominant cause of non-AML mortality was severe anemia (four out of five early deaths) and uncontrollable bleeding (n = 1). Conclusion: Reduced dose chemotherapy without transfusion support in JW suffering from AML is associated with a lower rate of remission, high mortality by severe anemia and very low chances for long-term remissions. Less hematotoxic treatment options including hypomethylating agents or molecular targeted therapies with intensive consolidation after improvement of bone marrow function are promising for these patients but need further investigation.

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