Evaluation of thiamine for the prevention of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy

To determine whether thiamine prophylaxis decreases the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy in patients receiving ifosfamide for the treatment of lymphoma.

Retrospective, multi-center, cohort study.

A total of 73 patients who received 187 total cycles of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide chemotherapy for the treatment of lymphoma were included in this study. Forty-four of these patients (114 cycles) were included in the no-thiamine group and 29 (65 cycles) in the thiamine group.

The incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy was measured using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events and documentation in the patient chart. Regarding the primary endpoint of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy, eight patients (18.2%) in the no-thiamine group and three patients (10.3%) in the thiamine group experienced an event (p = 0.5087). No patient experienced more than one neurotoxic event.

There was no significant difference found in the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy with the addition of thiamine prophylaxis in patients receiving ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide-based chemotherapy regimens for lymphoma. Larger, prospective studies assessing the use of thiamine prophylaxis in this patient population are warranted to better assess its impact on the incidence of ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy.