Acute Myeloid Leukemia in the Elderly, Intensive or Maintenance Therapy? Our Experience in Patients over 65 Years.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 4640-4640
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Mettivier ◽  
Luca Pezzullo ◽  
Stefano Rocco ◽  
Olimpia Finizio ◽  
Lucia Bene ◽  
...  

Abstract The treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in elderly with age > 65 years is still debated. Various reported studies have valued the feasibility of intensive chemotherapy in these setting of patients. The aim of the our study is to value the difference in DFS and OS among 2 groups of elderly patients with AML treated with intensive chemotherapy (IC) or maintenance (M). From June 2001 to May 2005 we have accepted in our Division 45 patients affected by AML aged up to 65 years. 25 were male and 20 were female, with a median age of 75 years (range 67–86 years). 22 patients (12 M and 10 F, median age: 71 years) received intensive chemotherapy (I.C. Flag and MICE) and 23 (13 M and 10 F, median age: 78 years) received or maintenance therapy (low dose cytarabine) or only support. In IC group 11 patients (50%) have obtained to complete remission (CR) with a DSF and OS media of 7,5 and 6,3 months respectively, and a TRM rate of 27%. In the M group the CR has been documented in 6 patients (35%) treated with low dose of cytarabine, with a DFS and OS media of 6,9 and 4,4 months respectively (graph 1–2). This results have shown, as expected, a better CR rate in the IC group, but without any advantage in terms of OS and DFS when compared with the M group. Difference is not statistically significant between the two groups (p: 0.5). Despite a good CR rate, Intensive chemotherapy do not improves survival in elderly patients. This is probably due to the combination of either a high TRM in patients treated with intensive chemotherapy or a high relapse rate. New therapeutics strategies are needed to improve DFS and OS in these patients. Interesting is the use of specific monoclonal antibodies (anti CD33) in this poor risk disease especially in maintenance after a CR obtainable with a low intensive or low dose chemotherapy. Figure Figure

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2016009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maël Heiblig ◽  
Mohamed Elhamri ◽  
Isabelle Tigaud ◽  
Adriana Plesa ◽  
Fiorenza Barraco ◽  
...  

Objectives: Low-dose cytarabine (LD-AraC) is still regarded as the standard of care in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ‘unfit’ for intensive chemotherapy. In this study, we compared the efficacy of LD-AraC, in patients ≥ 70 years old, with that of intensive chemotherapy, best supportive care (BSC), or hypomethylating agents in a single institution experience.Methods: Between 2000 and 2014, 60 patients received LD-AraC at 20 mg once or twice daily by subcutaneous injection for 10 consecutive days every 4-6 weeks. 85 patients were treated by intensive chemotherapy, 34 patients by hypomethylating agents, and 43 patients only by BSC.Results: Complete remission rate with LD-AraC was 7% versus 56% with intensive chemotherapy and 21% with hypomethylating agents. Median overall survival (OS) of patients treated with LD-AraC was 9.6 months with 3-year OS of 12%. Survival with LD-AraC was better than with BSC only (P = 0.001). Although not statistically significant, intensive chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents tended to be better than LD-AraC in terms of OS (median: 12.4 months and 16.1 months, respectively). There was no clear evidence that a beneficial effect of LD-AraC was restricted to any particular subtype of patients, except for cytogenetics.Conclusions: Despite a trend in favor of intensive chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents over LD-AraC, no real significant advantage could be demonstrated, while LD-AraC showed a significant advantage comparatively to BSC. This tends to confirm that LD-AraC can still represent a baseline against which new promising agents may be compared either alone or in combination.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 1338-1338
Author(s):  
Seung-Hwan Shin ◽  
Seung-Ah Yahng ◽  
Jae-Ho Yoon ◽  
Byung-Sik Cho ◽  
Hee-Je Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: For elderly patients unfit for intensive chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), low-dose cytarabine (LDAC; 20 mg SQ BID for 10 days) still remains to be the standard treatment, despite its unsatisfactory complete response (CR) rate of 18% and median overall survival (OS) of < 6 months (Burnett, 2007). Recently, there have been huge efforts to develop more effective and less-toxic therapies, such as decitabine, azacitidine, clofarabine, or gemtuzumab ozogamicin, but their benefits were not concrete, even though they were compared to the classical LDAC. To improve outcomes of the classical LDAC, we modified it by giving a higher dose of cytarabine for an extended duration in combination with oral etoposide. Herein, we present the results. Methods: Between 2002 and 2014, 93 consecutive older (≥ 60 years) patients with AML, who were unfit for intensive chemotherapy, received 1st cycle of modified LDAC (mLDAC) regimen consisting of cytarabine (20 mg/m2 SQ BID) and oral etoposide (50 mg PO BID) for 14 days. Thereafter, they received additional subsequent cycles (for a maximum of 7 cycles) for 10 days every 6 to 8 weeks. We retrospectively analyzed their overall response (OR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates. In this analysis, OR was defined as CR plus CR with incomplete platelet recovery (CRp) or blood count recovery (CRi). Results: The median age of patients in our cohort, including 69 (74.2%) with poor performance status (ECOG ≥ 2), 15 (16.1%) with AML with myelodysplastic-related changes or secondary AML, and 13 (14.0%) with poor cytogenetic risk, was 68 years (range, 60-83). The median number of mLDAC regimen cycles which they received was 2 (range, 1-8). Clinically relevant toxicities of grade III-IV including nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, hyperbilirubinemia and neutropenic fever were observed in 4 (4.3%) patients, 6 (6.5%), 3 (3.2%), and 42 (45.2%), respectively, which were comparable with those of classical LDAC (Burnett, 2007). The early mortality rates at 30 and 60 days were 11.8% and 15.0%, respectively. The OR was observed in 45 (48.4%) patients, including 34 (36.6%) CR, 7 (7.5%) CRp, and 4 (4.3%) CRi, within two cycles of mLDAC. With median follow-up duration of 26.1 months, the median DFS and OS were 6.2 and 15.8 months, respectively. For patients who achieved OR, they were 14.5 and 36.9 months, respectively. The OR of patients who had poor cytogenetic risk was not significantly different compared to others (57.1%, 46.2%, and 38.5% for favorable, intermediate, and poor cytogenetics, respectively; P=0.50). However, they showed significantly shorter median DFS (9.8, 6.6, and 5.1 months, respectively; P=0.01) and OS (NR, 1.4, and 5.1 months, respectively; P=0.01) with significantly shorter OR duration (30.6, 19.1, and 8.6 months, respectively; P=0.01). Between 2009 and 2014, among 17 patients treated with hypomethylating agents (HMA; 14 decitabine and 3 azacitidine), 1 CR and 3 partial response were achieved with a median survival of 5.5 months, and 5 patients after HMA treatment failure received subsequent mLDAC, and 3 achieved additional CR (n=2) and CRp (n=1). Conclusions: These results suggest that the outcomes of classical LDAC in elderly patients with AML can be improved by modifying it, with improved response and survival rates without increasing toxicities, even in patients with poor cytogenetics. Additionally, mLDAC could induce clinical responses in patients with HMA failure. Our mLDAC regimen may become another therapeutic option with emerging novel agents for elderly patients with AML, and these should be confirmed by large randomized trials. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 4956-4956
Author(s):  
Cheng-Hong Tsai ◽  
Hsin-An Hou ◽  
Wen-Chien Chou ◽  
Chien-Chin Lin ◽  
Chien-Yuan Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Risk-stratification of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can not only improve treatment response, but also reduce side effects of the treatment, especially in the elderly. A number of patient-specific and leukemia-associated factors are related to the poor outcome in older patients with AML. However, comprehensive studies regarding the impact of genetic alterations in this group of patients are limited. Methods and Materials A total of 500 adult patients with newly diagnosed de novo AML who had enough bone marrow cryopreserved cells for analysis at the National Taiwan University Hospital were enrolled consecutively. We compared the clinico-biological features, cytogenetics and molecular gene mutations between patients aged 60 years or older (n=185) and those younger (<60 years, n=315). Result Among older patients, those received standard intensive chemotherapy had a longer overall survival (OS) than those treated with palliative care. Compared with younger patients, the elderly had a higher incidence of poor-risk cytogenetic changes, but a lower frequency of favorable-risk cytogenetics. The median number of molecular gene mutations at diagnosis was higher in the elderly than the younger. Older patients had significantly higher incidences of PTPN11, NPM1, RUNX1, ASXL1, TET2, DNMT3A, and P53 mutations but a lower frequency of WT1 mutations. In multivariate analysis for OS among the elderly who received standard intensive chemotherapy, high WBC >50,000/μL at diagnosis, RUNX1 mutations, DNMT3A mutations, and P53 mutations were independent worse prognostic factors, while the presence of NPM1 mutations in the abcence of FLT3/ITD mutations was an independent good prognostic factor. The frequency of acquiring one or more adverse genetic alterations was much higher in older patients than younger ones. Further, the pattern of gene mutations could divide older patients with intermediate cytogenetics into three groups with significantly different complete remission rates, OS, and disease-free survival. Conclusion Older AML patients frequently harbored high-risk cytogenetics and gene mutations, and had poorer prognosis. Integration of cytogenetics and molecular alterations could risk-stratify older patients into groups with significant different outcomes. For those patients with poor prognosis under current chemotherapy, novel therapies, such as demethylating agents or other targeted therapies may be indicated. Disclosures Tang: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria.


Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
Yunxiong Wei ◽  
Yaqing Cao ◽  
Xin Jin ◽  
Xiaoyuan He ◽  
Rui Sun ◽  
...  

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplasia (MDS) are usually associated with poor outcomes, especially in high-risk AML/MDS. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is the only curable option for patients suffering from high-risk AML/MDS. However, there were still many patients relapsed after allo-HSCT, especially for some patients are MRD positive before transplantation. Novel therapy to prevent replase is urgently needed. Both BCL-2 inhibitor, venetoclax (VEN) and hypomethylating agent, decitabine (DEC) possess significant antitumor activity effects against AML/MDS. Administration DEC has been shown to ameliorate GVHD and boost GVL post-transplantation. Several clinical trials have also shown that venetoclax plus decitabine can be a safety and effective salvage treatment for patients with AML/MDS relapsing after allo-HSCT. We therefore conducted a prospective study (ChiCTR1900025374) to exam the tolerability and efficacy of a maintenance therapy low-dose decitabine (LDEC) plus VEN to prevent relapse after allo-HSCT for MRD positive high-risk AML/MDS patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report of venetoclax combined decitabine in this setting. Methods: Six patients with MRD positive high-risk AML (n=5) /MDS(n=1) post transplantation were recruited. Around day 100 post transplantation, all patients received LDEC (15mg/m2 for 3 days) followed by VEN (200mg) on day 1 to 21. Two months is a cycle. The primary end points of this study were rates of Overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS). The secondary endpoints included adverse events (AEs), incidence of cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), nonrelapse mortality (NRM), incidences of acute GVHD (aGVHD) and chronic GVHD (cGVHD) and incidences of viral infection after allo-HSCT. Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis Results: Two of the six patients were partial remission (PR) before transplantation, and the remaining 4 patients were MRD+ before transplantation. The median follow-up was 16 (11-26.5) months. Both 2-year OS and 2-year EFS were 83%. The median 2-year EFS time was 16(9-26.5) months, and five patients still EFS alive at the time of this writing. The 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse after LDEC+VEN was 17% and 2-year non-relapse mortality was 0%. No tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) was observed. The most common AEs were neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenic fever, and fatigue. Grade 2 or 3 adverse events were observed in 33% (2/6). No grade&gt;3 AEs were observed. Acute (any grade) and chronic (limited or extensive) graft-versus-host disease occurred in 67% and 17% of patients, respectively. The 2-year cumulative incidence of CMV viremia and EBV viremia were 33.3% and 16.7%, respectively. Conclusion: We conclude LDEC+VEN can be administered safely after allo-HSCT, without evidence for increased incidence of GVHD, and this combination demonstrates decreased relapse for MRD positive high-risk AML/MDS patients. This novel maintenance therapy may be a promising way to prevent replase for MRD positive high-risk AML/MDS patients, and the clinical benefits need to be assessed in a comparative prospective trial. Figure Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Senjo ◽  
Masahiro Onozawa ◽  
Daisuke Hidaka ◽  
Shota Yokoyama ◽  
Satoshi Yamamoto ◽  
...  

Abstract Elderly patients aged 65 or older with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have poor prognosis. The risk stratification based on genetic alteration has been proposed in national comprehensive cancer network (NCCN) guideline but its efficacy was not well verified especially in real world elderly patients. The nutritional status assessment using controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score is a prognostic biomarker in elderly patients with solid tumors but was not examined in elderly AML patients. We performed prospective analysis of genetic alterations of 174 patients aged 65 or older with newly diagnosed AML treated without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and developed simplified CONUT (sCONUT) score by eliminating total lymphocyte count from the items to adapt AML patients. In this cohort, both the NCCN 2017 risk group and sCONUT score successfully stratified the overall survival (OS) of the elderly patients. A multivariable analysis demonstrated that adverse group in NCCN 2017 and high sCONUT score were independently associated with poor 2-year OS. Both risk stratification based on NCCN 2017 and sCONUT score predict prognosis in the elderly patients with newly diagnosed AML.


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