A Randomized Study Comparing the Efficacy of Three Hepatitis B Vaccine Induction Regimens in Adult Patients with Hematological Malignancies.
OBJECTIVE
Non-responsiveness to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines is not rare in hemato-oncological patients due to disease-associated or treatment-induced immune suppression. Although different strategies have been employed to improve the response rates, to date there is not an approved schedule for HBV immunization in patients with hematological malignancies. We designed a prospective randomized study to evaluate the efficacy of 3 different induction regimens for HBV vaccination.


METHODS
In the standard-dose (SD) group, total vaccine dose delivered was 40 µg and patients were vaccinated with 20 µg at weeks 0 and 4. In the high-dose dose-intensive (HDDI) group, total vaccine dose delivered was 80 µg and patients were vaccinated with 40 µg at weeks 0 and 4. In the high-dose time-intensive (HDTI) group, total vaccine dose delivered was 80 µg and patients were vaccinated with 20 µg at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6.


RESULTS
In a cohort of 114 patients, 38.6% responded to HBV vaccination. The response rate in the SD arm, HDDI arm, and HDTI arm was 26.2%, 29.7%, and 44.4%, respectively (p>0.05). Age was the only variable identified as having a negative impact on response.


CONCLUSIONS
Short of achieving statistical significance, a higher response rate was observed in the HDTI arm. Therefore, this study supports a high-dose, time-intensive HBV vaccine induction regimen in patients with hematological malignancies who are not on chemotherapy.
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Hematology, Ankara, Turkey, Phone: +90 312 202 63 17, E-mail: zubeydenurozkurt@yahoo.com.
Zübeyde Nur
ZN
Özkurt
Elif
E
Suyanı
Rauf
R
Haznedar
Münci
M
Yağcı
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines