Relapse Cases among Children Increases with Hodgkin Lymphoma Drug 'Shortage'

The national shortage of a drug used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma for more than 10 years has led to a dramatic increase in relapse cases among children, a new study says.

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer of white blood cells known as lymphocytes that helps the body fight infections and diseases.

According to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, nearly 500 American children are diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma every year. They state that the cancer is more common among children aged between seven and 11. It affects boys more than girls, particularly Caucasian children as compared to other races.

Researchers from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital looked at the impact of mechlorethamine shortage, a drug that has been used to treat severe cases of Hodgkin lymphoma since the 1960s.  The shortage that started in 2009 was solved only recently.

The mechlorethamine drug shortage compelled doctors to find an effective and safe alternative drug cyclophosphamide for treating the cancer.

Researchers found the drug cyclophosphamide not as effective as mechlorethamine, and cancer-free survival rates two years after cancer diagnosis dropping down from 88 percent to 75 percent among young patients.

"This is a devastating example of how drug shortages affect patients and why these shortages must be prevented," Monika Metzger, an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Oncology and the study's principal investigator, said in a news release.  "Our results demonstrate that, for many chemotherapy drugs, there are no adequate substitute drugs available."

Concerned with the findings, researchers have urged authorities to avoid such occurrences in the future.

"Despite heroic efforts by the drug shortage office of the Food and Drug Administration to solve the shortages of a number of medically necessary drugs, it is clear that patients are still suffering from the unavailability of life-saving drugs. A more systematic solution to the problem is needed," Michael Link, senior author of the study, said.

Findings of the study have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.