TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term efficacy and safety of cannabidiol in patients with treatment-resistant epilepsies
T2 - Four-year results from the expanded access program
AU - Szaflarski, Jerzy P.
AU - Devinsky, Orrin
AU - Lopez, Merrick
AU - Park, Yong D.
AU - Zentil, Pilar Pichon
AU - Patel, Anup D.
AU - Thiele, Elizabeth A.
AU - Wechsler, Robert T.
AU - Checketts, Daniel
AU - Sahebkar, Farhad
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Epilepsia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International League Against Epilepsy.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Objective: Cannabidiol (CBD) expanded access program, initiated in 2014, provided add-on CBD to patients with treatment-resistant epilepsies (TREs) at 35 US epilepsy centers. Prior publications reported results through December 2016; herein, we present efficacy and safety results through January 2019. Methods: Patients received plant-derived highly purified CBD (Epidiolex®; 100 mg/ml oral solution), increasing from 2 to 10 mg/kg/day to tolerance or maximum 25–50 mg/kg/day dose, depending on the study site. Efficacy endpoints included percentage change from baseline in median monthly convulsive and total seizure frequency and ≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% responder rates across 12-week visit windows for up to 192 weeks. Adverse events (AEs) were documented at each visit. Results: Of 892 patients in the safety analysis set, 322 (36%) withdrew; lack of efficacy (19%) and AEs (7%) were the most commonly reported primary reasons for withdrawal. Median (range) age was 11.8 years (range = 0–74.5), and patients were taking a median of three (range = 0–10) antiseizure medications (ASMs) at baseline; the most common ASMs were clobazam (47%), levetiracetam (34%), and valproate (28%). Median top CBD dose was 25 mg/kg/day; median exposure duration was 694 days. Median percentage reduction from baseline ranged 50%–67% for convulsive seizures and 46%–66% for total seizures. Convulsive seizure responder rates (≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% reduction) ranged 51%–59%, 33%–42%, and 11%–17% of patients across visit windows, respectively. AEs were reported in 88% of patients and serious AEs in 41%; 8% withdrew because of an AE. There were 20 deaths during the study deemed unrelated to treatment by the investigator. The most common AEs (≥20% of patients) were diarrhea (33%), seizure (24%), and somnolence (23%). Significance: Add-on CBD was associated with sustained seizure reduction up to 192 weeks with an acceptable safety profile and can be used for long-term treatment of TREs.
AB - Objective: Cannabidiol (CBD) expanded access program, initiated in 2014, provided add-on CBD to patients with treatment-resistant epilepsies (TREs) at 35 US epilepsy centers. Prior publications reported results through December 2016; herein, we present efficacy and safety results through January 2019. Methods: Patients received plant-derived highly purified CBD (Epidiolex®; 100 mg/ml oral solution), increasing from 2 to 10 mg/kg/day to tolerance or maximum 25–50 mg/kg/day dose, depending on the study site. Efficacy endpoints included percentage change from baseline in median monthly convulsive and total seizure frequency and ≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% responder rates across 12-week visit windows for up to 192 weeks. Adverse events (AEs) were documented at each visit. Results: Of 892 patients in the safety analysis set, 322 (36%) withdrew; lack of efficacy (19%) and AEs (7%) were the most commonly reported primary reasons for withdrawal. Median (range) age was 11.8 years (range = 0–74.5), and patients were taking a median of three (range = 0–10) antiseizure medications (ASMs) at baseline; the most common ASMs were clobazam (47%), levetiracetam (34%), and valproate (28%). Median top CBD dose was 25 mg/kg/day; median exposure duration was 694 days. Median percentage reduction from baseline ranged 50%–67% for convulsive seizures and 46%–66% for total seizures. Convulsive seizure responder rates (≥50%, ≥75%, and 100% reduction) ranged 51%–59%, 33%–42%, and 11%–17% of patients across visit windows, respectively. AEs were reported in 88% of patients and serious AEs in 41%; 8% withdrew because of an AE. There were 20 deaths during the study deemed unrelated to treatment by the investigator. The most common AEs (≥20% of patients) were diarrhea (33%), seizure (24%), and somnolence (23%). Significance: Add-on CBD was associated with sustained seizure reduction up to 192 weeks with an acceptable safety profile and can be used for long-term treatment of TREs.
KW - antiseizure medications
KW - convulsive seizures
KW - treatment-resistant seizures
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U2 - 10.1111/epi.17496
DO - 10.1111/epi.17496
M3 - Article
C2 - 36537757
AN - SCOPUS:85146161250
SN - 0013-9580
VL - 64
SP - 619
EP - 629
JO - Epilepsia
JF - Epilepsia
IS - 3
ER -