Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases
Open Access

Abstract

Sustained Responses following Treatment with Romiplostim in Immune Thrombocytopenia: A Single-Centre Experience

Drew Provan, Louise Taylor, Raghava Nandigham, Umesh Doobaree, Pallavi Kalkur and Adrian C Newland

Background: Romiplostim is a thrombopoietin receptor agonist which is useful for the treatment of adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia. This class of treatment is regarded as palliative, raising platelet counts whilst patients are receiving romiplostim, with the expectation that platelets will return to baseline after stopping therapy. Anecdotal reports have suggested that some patients show unexpected longer term responses when off treatment. Design: We examined the outcomes for 21 consecutively-treated adult patients at our center to determine whether any patients had sustained responses after stopping romiplostim. A platelet count of ≥ 100 x 109/L was considered a complete response, and from 50–100×109/L this was considered a partial response. If the response after stopping romiplostim lasted 6 months or more this was considered a durable response.