Papers of the Week

To explore the effect and safety of avatrombopag for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT). This multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial enrolled CIT patients in eight centers from October 2020 to April 2021. The participants received avatrombopag tablets 60 mg once a day for 5-10 days. The main endpoint was the proportion of patients with platelet count ≥100×10/L or increased by ≥ 50×10/L or increased by ≥ 100% in the cycle after the start of treatment. Seventy-four participants were enrolled with a mean age of 59.8 ± 11.62.2% were males. The cumulative effective rate (any criteria) was 70.3% at 4 weeks. 42 (56.8%) achieved platelet count ≥100×10/L, 44 (59.5%) increased by ≥ 50×10/L, and 27 (36.5%) increase by ≥ 100% from baseline. The duration of grade III and IV platelet reduction was 4.2 ± 5.3 days. The time of PLT recovery to ≥75×10/L was 9.4 ± 6.6 days. The time of PLT recovery to ≥100×10/L was 10.2 ± 6.4 days. The platelet count nadir was 57.9 ± 45.3×10/L. The most common adverse events were nausea (8.1%), fatigue (5.4%), and abdominal pain (1.4%). There were no cases of fever, headache, or peripheral edema. Although it was a single-arm trial without a control group, the application of avatrombopag in patients with CIT can increase the platelet count of the patients compared with baseline. Avatrombopag is safe and tolerable. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04609891?term=04609891&draw=2&rank=1, identifier [NCT04609891].