Impact of Lanthanum Carbonate on Prognosis of Chronic Hemodialysis Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study (Kawashima Study)

In hemodialysis patients, mineral and bone disorder is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and subsequent death through the progression of vascular calcification. Serum phosphorus plays a major role in this process. In the present study, we retrospectively analyzed the effects of oral phosphate binder, lanthanum carbonate (LC), on the mortality in hemodialysis patients. Among a total of 841 patients who underwent maintenance hemodialysis on 1 July 2010, patients who were treated with LC (LC group, N=324) and those who were treated without LC (NLC group, N=517) were compared with respect to their all-cause mortality for a long-term observation period of up to 36months. The mortality rate was compared using the Cox proportional hazard model adjusted by the propensity score. The adjusted hazard ratio for mortality in the LC group versus NLC group was 0.515 (95% confidence interval, 0.328-0.807), suggesting that the use of LC is associated with an almost 50% reduction in the mortality rate. The present retrospective study including all hemodialysis patients demonstrated, for the first time, an association between the use of LC and improved prognosis in hemodialysis patients. Randomized controlled trials should be done in the future to validate our present findings.