title: Pharmacotherapy in sickle cell disease--state of the art and future prospects.
abstract: In the last decade, the care of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) has undergone important advances with better understanding of disease pathophysiology and improvement in standards of care, especially among paediatric patients. Although many new drugs are currently being investigated and are at different stages of development, the pace of drug discovery and utilization has been slow and suboptimal. Hydroxycarbamide (hydroxyurea) has been investigated and utilized for at least two decades. Hydroxycarbamide's efficacy has been demonstrated, albeit with different levels of evidence, in paediatric and adult populations, and yet clinician and patient acceptance and use have been far from ideal. In this review we discuss the current usage of hydroxycarbamide and its possible future indications in SCD, as well as the use of new compounds that have very different mechanisms of action, which may prove safe and efficacious when used alone or in combination in patients with SCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA. jane.hankins@stjude.org
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hankins
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aygun
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000986:Antisickling Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000187:drug effects; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000986:Antisickling Agents; D007473:Ion Channels; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D004921:Erythropoietin