A retrospective review of rasburicase utilization in pediatric and adult patients across a large health system

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to characterize rasburicase dosing and duration. Secondary objectives included characterizing the indication of rasburicase and identifying the utilization of prophylactic therapy for tumor lysis syndrome (TLS). Methods This retrospective review included patients 0 to 89 years old admitted between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021, and received at least one dose of rasburicase. Patients were excluded if they were >89 years old, pregnant, lactating, or received rasburicase outpatient. Results A total of 192 patients, 176 adults and 16 pediatric patients were included in the retrospective review. Of the total population, 184 received a fixed dose of rasburicase and 8 patients received a weight-based dose (0.15 mg/kg/dose) of rasburicase. The average dose administered was 3.4 mg for fixed and 2.99 mg for weight-based dosing. Nearly half (49.5%) the patients received rasburicase for an elevated uric acid but did not meet Cairo-Bishop criteria for TLS. Only 42.2% received at least one dose of allopurinol within 5 days prior to rasburicase and 18.8% received aggressive hydration within 72 h prior to rasburicase. Conclusion The majority of rasburicase administered was ordered as fixed dose for a uric acid level ≥7.5 mg/dL. Most patients did not meet criteria for laboratory or clinical TLS and less than half the patients received prophylactic allopurinol and/or aggressive hydration. These study results are supported by recent literature for fixed dose rasburicase as a safe and economical dosing strategy compared to weight-based dosing.