Managing Fatigue in Patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria: A Patient-Focused Perspective

Bruno Fattizzo,1,2 Francesca Cavallaro,1,2 Esther Natalie Oliva,3 Wilma Barcellini1 1Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico - Haematology Unit, Milan, Italy; 2Università degli Studi di Milano - Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Milan, Italy; 3Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Bianchi Melacrino Morelli - Hematology Division, Reggio, Calabria, ItalyCorrespondence: Bruno Fattizzo, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, via Francesco Sforza 35, Milan, 20100, Italy, Tel +39 3896873204, Email bruno.fattizzo@unimi.itAbstract: The most frequently reported symptom in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a disease characterized by complement mediated hemolysis and chronic anemia, is “fatigue”. The latter seems the best word to communicate patient’ perception of personal health status and disease impact on daily living, namely quality of life (QoL). Objectivating QoL and grading patient’s fatigue is one of the most difficult medical tasks given the highly heterogeneous communication skills of patients and caregivers and the multitude of meanings that might be attributed to this term. Along with anemia, QoL in PNH is also affected by the emotional burden of a chronic life-long disease with heterogeneous treatment requirement, risk of hemolytic exacerbations (breakthrough hemolysis) and of thrombosis. In the last decade, structured surveys and scores have been adapted from cancer settings to evaluate fatigue and QoL in patients with PNH, and to assess the benefit of complement inhibitors in this setting. Eculizumab was the first drug utilized and was shown to improve QoL scores in the registrative trials. However, the intravenous fortnightly administration, the presence of residual anemia, and the risk of extravascular hemolysis are some of the unmet needs impacting QoL under eculizumab. Several novel drugs have been designed to improve patients’ convenience and alleviate anemia and fatigue. In this review, we focus on available studies that evaluated fatigue and QoL in PNH patients, and the effect of old and new therapeutic strategies.Keywords: paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, novel drugs, eculizumab, quality of life, fatigue