Eltrombopag for Post-Transplant Poor Graft Function in East Asian Patients

Poor graft function (PGF) is a serious, potentially life-threatening complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Eltrombopag has shown multilineage responses in patients with refractory severe aplastic anemia, supporting the idea that it may improve cytopenia in patients with PGF. This retrospective, single center analysis included 8 Korean patients receiving eltrombopag for PGF. Median interval between transplant and eltrombopag treatment was 73 days, and the median duration treatment was 3.5 weeks. With median maximum daily dose of 50 mg, the time to best response was 93 days. Median hemoglobin increased from 8.2 g/dL to 10.9 g/dL, platelet from 18.5 × 10⁹/L to 54 × 10⁹/L, and absolute neutrophil count from 1.25 × 10⁹/L to 3.32 × 10⁹/L. In conclusion, eltrombopag is a good option for PGF in Korean patients, even at a lower dose compared to western patients.