Evaluation of thiamine for the prevention of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy

Abstract

Study objective To determine whether thiamine prophylaxis decreases the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy in patients receiving ifosfamide for the treatment of lymphoma. Design Retrospective, multi-center, cohort study. Patients A total of 73 patients who received 187 total cycles of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide chemotherapy for the treatment of lymphoma were included in this study. Forty-four of these patients (114 cycles) were included in the no-thiamine group and 29 (65 cycles) in the thiamine group. Measurements and main results The incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy was measured using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events and documentation in the patient chart. Regarding the primary endpoint of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy, eight patients (18.2%) in the no-thiamine group and three patients (10.3%) in the thiamine group experienced an event ( p = 0.5087). No patient experienced more than one neurotoxic event. Conclusion There was no significant difference found in the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy with the addition of thiamine prophylaxis in patients receiving ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide–based chemotherapy regimens for lymphoma. Larger, prospective studies assessing the use of thiamine prophylaxis in this patient population are warranted to better assess its impact on the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy.