European Development of Clofarabine as Treatment for Older Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia Considered Unsuitable for Intensive Chemotherapy

Purpose Treatment options for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not considered suitable for intensive chemotherapy are limited. We assessed the second-generation purine nucleoside analog, clofarabine, in two similar phase II studies in this group of patients. Patients and Methods Two consecutive studies, UWCM-001 and BIOV-121, recruited untreated older patients with AML to receive up to four or six 5-day courses of clofarabine. Patients in UWCM-001 were either older than 70 years or 60 to 69 years of age with poor performance status (WHO > 2) or with cardiac comorbidity. Patients in BIOV-121 were ≥ 65 years of age and deemed unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy. Results A total of 106 patients were treated in the two monotherapy studies. Median age was 71 years (range, 60 to 84 years), 30% had adverse-risk cytogenetics, and 36% had a WHO performance score ≥ 2. Forty-eight percent had a complete response (32% complete remission, 16% complete remission with incomplete peripheral blood count recovery), and 18% died within 30 days. Interestingly, response and overall survival were not inferior in the adverse cytogenetic risk group. The safety profile of clofarabine in these elderly patients with AML who were unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy was manageable and typical of a cytotoxic agent in patients with acute leukemia. Patients had similar prognostic characteristics to matched patients treated with low-dose cytarabine in the United Kingdom AML14 trial, but had significantly superior response and overall survival. Conclusion Clofarabine is active and generally well tolerated in this patient group. It is worthy of further evaluation in comparative trials and might be of particular use in patients with adverse cytogenetics.

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Assessment of Patients Fitness at Diagnosis in Elderly Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v128.22.4012.4012 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 128 (22) ◽

pp. 4012-4012

Author(s):

Semra Aydin ◽

Ernesta Audisio ◽

Stefano D'Ardia ◽

Bernardino Allione ◽

Barbara Nicolino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Complete Remission ◽

Board Of Directors ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Advisory Committees ◽

Perfect Agreement ◽

Medical Board ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract Background:Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease which predominantly affects patients with a median age at diagnosis over 65 years. The elderly population is highly heterogeneous and assessment strategies are needed to define the frailty profile. To date, evaluation of disease-related and patients specific factors in the context of clinic decision making has been largely subjective. Concerning AML therapy, several studies demonstrated improved survival for older patients receiving intensive induction chemotherapy compared to those receiving supportive care alone. Defining this subset of patients who are eligible or "fit" for intensive chemotherapy involves a great deal of subjectivity. Criteria yet have to be standardized across or within institutions. Aim:Aim of this study was to investigate the validity of four scores for assessment of patient fitness at diagnosis in parallel to physician evaluation. Further patient outcome according the respective evaluation was compared. Methods: In a single hematology center a total of 85 clinically and molecularly well characterized consecutive elderly (>60 years) patients with newly diagnosed AML were treated from 2012 to 2015 according to age, performance status and co-morbidities. Therapy response was defined according to ELN criteria. Therapy intensity decision was based on an initial haematologist evaluation followed by discussion of the patient case in an interdisciplinary board. Independently from the medical board, in parallel the local geriatric G8 screening tool, consisting of seven items from the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire and age, the HCT-CI comorbidity score as well as the AML scores proposed by the German Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cooperative Group, predicting probability of complete remission (CR) and early death (ED) were performed. Overall survival from diagnosis was compared between groups using the Cox model. Results:A total of 42 (49,4%) patients were evaluated "fit" by the medical board and treated by intensive chemotherapy ("7+3" regimen), whereas 4 patients (4,7%) underwent semi-intensive with hypomethylating agents and 39 patients (45,8%) received palliative therapy (low dose Cytarabine or Hydroxyurea). Twenty-six patients (30,6%) achieved a complete remission after induction chemotherapy, could follow consolidation chemotherapy and six of them underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Fourty-four (51,8%) were non responders and 15 patients (17,6%) died during the first cycle. Overall, the median survival time was 6,7 months (95% CI 3,7-9,5). Primary physician care evaluation was able to define in a statistically significant manner a "fit" from an "unfit" patient. Median survival time from the "fit" patients was 10 moths (95%CI 5-not reached) compared to the "unfit" evaluated patients with 3,4 months (95%CI 1,4-5), p<0.001 with a HR (95%CI) of 3,18 (1,81 to 5,59). Parallel evaluation of patients unfitness according the proposed cut-point of the G8 (≤14), AML for CR (<40) and AML for ED (≥30) scores discriminated significantly patients survival with HRs equal to 3.03 (p<0,001), 2.11 (p=0,007) and 2.83 (p<0.001), respectively. The agreement between the frailty scores and physician evaluation on the prediction of fitness classification was analyzed by calculating the Cohens' Kappa. In this approach a Kappa level of 1,0 denotes perfect agreement. The agreement of was moderate for HCT-CI score and AML score for CR (0.47 and 0.46, respectively). The agreement was fair for G8 and AML score for ED (0.27 and 0.33, respectively). Summary/Conclusion: In conclusion, in the present AML cohort the applied frailty scores at diagnosis correlated significantly with the median overall survival. Since no perfect agreement was found respect to physician for fitness classification, frailty scores can help to improve the prognosis prediction. These results may encourage a following multi-centre analysis in order to increase the statistic power of the performed analysis. Disclosures Vitolo: Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Honoraria for lectures; Gilead: Other: Honoraria for lectures; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Honoraria for lectures; Takeda: Other: Honoraria for lectures.

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Randomised evaluation of quizartinib and low-dose ara-C vs low-dose ara-C in older acute myeloid leukemia patients

Blood Advances ◽

10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005038 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mike Dennis ◽

Ian Thomas ◽

Cono Ariti ◽

Laura Upton ◽

Alan K Burnett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Overall Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Older Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Low Dose ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Wild Type ◽

Flt3 Inhibitor ◽

Acute Myeloid

Survival for older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy is unsatisfactory. Standard non intensive therapies have low response rates and only extend life by a few months. Quizartinib is an oral Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitor with reported activity in wild type patients. As part of the AML LI trial we undertook a randomised evaluation of low dose ara-C (LDAC) with or without quizartinib in patients not fit for intensive chemotherapy. Overall, survival was not improved (202 patients), but in the 27 FLT3-ITD patients the addition of quizartinib to LDAC improved response (p=0.05) with CR/CRi for quizartinib + LDAC in 5/13 (38%) v 0/14 (0%) in patients receiving LDAC alone. Overall survival (OS) in these FLT3-ITD positive patients was also significantly improved at 2 years for quizartinib + LDAC; hazard ratio 0.36 (95% confidence intervals 0.16, 0.85), (p=0.04). Median OS was 13.7 months compared to 4.2 months with LDAC alone. This is the first report of a FLT3 targeted therapy added to standard non-intensive chemotherapy that has improved survival in this population. Quizartinib merits consideration for future triplet based treatment approaches. (Clinical trial numbers: ISRCTN No: ISRCTN40571019 EUDRACT Number: 2011-000749-19).

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Long-term survival after intensive chemotherapy or hypomethylating agents in AML patients aged 70 years and older: a large patient data set study from European registries

Leukemia ◽

10.1038/s41375-021-01425-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Récher ◽

Christoph Röllig ◽

Emilie Bérard ◽

Sarah Bertoli ◽

Pierre-Yves Dumas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Complete Remission ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Hypomethylating Agents ◽

Term Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid

AbstractThe outcome of acute myeloid leukemia patients aged 70 years or older is poor. Defining the best treatment option remains controversial especially when choosing between intensive chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents. We set up a multicentric European database collecting data of 3 700 newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia patients ≥70 years. The primary objective was to compare overall survival in patients selected for intensive chemotherapy (n = 1199) or hypomethylating agents (n = 1073). With a median follow-up of 49.5 months, the median overall survival was 10.9 (95% CI: 9.7–11.6) and 9.2 months (95% CI: 8.3–10.2) with chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents, respectively. Complete remission or complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery was 56.1% and 19.7% with chemotherapy and hypomethylating agents, respectively (P < 0.0001). Treatment effect on overall survival was time-dependent. The Royston and Parmar model showed that patients treated with hypomethylating agents had a significantly lower risk of death before 1.5 months of follow-up; no significant difference between 1.5 and 4.0 months, whereas patients treated with intensive chemotherapy had a significantly better overall survival from four months after start of therapy. This study shows that intensive chemotherapy remains a valuable option associated with a better long-term survival in older AML patients.

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Frequency of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Among Patients With High- or Intermediate-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia in First Complete Remission

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2013.50.2567 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 31 (31) ◽

pp. 3883-3888 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Raya Mawad ◽

Ted A. Gooley ◽

Vicky Sandhu ◽

Jack Lionberger ◽

Bart Scott ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Complete Remission ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation ◽

Performance Status ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Poor Performance Status ◽

Early Relapse ◽

First Complete Remission ◽

Acute Myeloid

Purpose To determine the frequency of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1). Patients and Methods Between January 1, 2008, and March 1, 2011, 212 newly diagnosed patients with AML received treatment at our center. Ninety-five patients age less than 75 years with intermediate- or high-risk AML achieved a complete remission, and 21 patients achieved a morphologic remission with incomplete blood count recovery. Results Seventy-eight (67%; 95% CI, 58% to 76%) of 116 patients received HCT at a median of 2.8 months (range, 0.5 to 19 months) from their CR1 date. The median age was 57 years in both the HCT patient group (range, 18 to 75 years) and the non-HCT patient group (range, 24 to 70 years; P = .514). Between the HCT patients and the non-HCT patients, the mean Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 1.1 compared with 1.5, respectively (P = .005), and the average HCT comorbidity score within 60 days of CR1 was 1.7 and 2.1, respectively (P = .68). Twenty-nine (76%) of 38 non-HCT patients were HLA typed, and matched donors were found for 13 of these 29 patients (34% of all non-HCT patients). The most common causes for patients not receiving transplantation in CR1 were early relapse (within 6 months) in 12 patients (32%), poor performance status in eight patients (21%), and physician decision in five patients (13%). Conclusion HCT can be performed in CR1 in the majority of patients with AML for whom it is currently recommended. The main barriers to HCT were early relapse and poor performance status, highlighting the need for improved therapies for patients with AML of all ages.

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Postremission treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission after intensive induction chemotherapy:results of the multicenter randomized Acute Leukemia French Association (ALFA) 9803 trial

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2007-02-069666 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 109 (12) ◽

pp. 5129-5135 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Claude Gardin ◽

Pascal Turlure ◽

Thierry Fagot ◽

Xavier Thomas ◽

Christine Terre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Complete Remission ◽

Elderly Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Remission Induction ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Transfusion Requirements ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract In elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated intensively, no best postremission strategy has emerged yet. This clinical trial enrolled 416 patients with AML aged 65 years or older who were considered eligible for standard intensive chemotherapy, with a first randomization comparing idarubicin with daunorubicin for all treatment sequences. After induction, an ambulatory postremission strategy based on 6 consolidation cycles administered monthly in outpatients was randomly compared with an intensive strategy with a single intensive consolidation course similar to induction. Complete remission (CR) rate was 57% with 10% induction deaths, and estimated overall survival was 27% at 2 years and 12% at 4 years, without notable differences between anthracycline arms. Among the 236 patients who reached CR, 164 (69%) were randomized for the postremission comparison. In these patients, the multivariate odds ratio in favor of the ambulatory arm was 1.51 for disease-free survival (P =.05) and 1.59 for overall survival from CR (P =.04). Despite repeated courses of chemotherapy associated with a longer time under treatment, the ambulatory arm was associated with significantly shorter rehospitalization duration and lower red blood cell unit and platelet transfusion requirements than observed in the intensive arm. In conclusion, more prolonged ambulatory treatment should be preferred to intensive chemotherapy as postremission therapy in elderly patients with AML reaching CR after standard intensive remission induction.

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Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Does Not Predict Overall Survival in Older Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v124.21.3689.3689 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 124 (21) ◽

pp. 3689-3689 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ellen K. Ritchie ◽

Danielle C. Marshall ◽

Molly D. Greenberg ◽

Tania J. Curcio ◽

Ashley E. Giambrone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overall Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Geriatric Assessment ◽

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment ◽

Older Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Performance Status ◽

Newly Diagnosed ◽

Wbc Count ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract Background Age and cytogenetics are the strongest predictors of overall survival (OS) in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but practitioners recognize that outcomes are also affected by medical comorbidities, physical function and a variety of psychosocial factors. Recent data suggest that geriatric assessment, including measures of physical, cognitive and psychological function, may be predictive of OS and helpful for risk stratification in AML (Klepin 2013). We evaluated the ability of a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) to predict overall survival in newly diagnosed older patients with AML. Patients and Methods All newly diagnosed AML patients age ≥60 years treated at Weill Cornell Medical Center and The New York Presbyterian Hospital completed a CGA including the OARS Physical Health Section, Mental Health Inventory (MHI-17), MOS Social Activity Survey, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) subscale of the MOS Physical Health, OARS Instrumental ADL subscale, Timed Up & Go, Blessed-Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS). Laboratory data, medications, transfusions and days of hospitalization were also collected. Comorbidities were assessed using the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI). OS was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test was used to compare survival profiles. The independent effects of the CGA and clinical risk factor variables on OS were estimated using hazard ratios in an adjusted Cox regression model. Results In total, 126 patients were evaluated (median age 74, range 60-90). Fifty-one percent of patients had a HCT-CI score >1, with the most common comorbidities being a history of cancer (28.57%), cardiac disease (20.6%), and psychiatric disturbances (17.5%). Half of the patients had prior hematologic disorders and 29% had poor-risk cytogenetics. Most patients (84.9%) received decitabine-based induction strategies; 44 of these patients (34.9%) subsequently received intensive salvage regimens (median age 69). The other 19 patients (15.1%) were treated with standard induction chemotherapy, and 29 patients (21%) underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation (median age 68). One hundred twenty-three patients (96.6%) completed the CGA with a mean time to completion of 26 minutes (± 8.9 minutes). Thirty-five percent of patients did not complete the entire assessment and only 61.1% completed the follow up CGA. Median OS was 11.1 months (range 0.36-52.64), with 1-year survival of 47.6%, complete remission (CR) rate of 39.8%, and 30-day mortality of 2.4%. In univariate analysis, age (P=0.0289), physician-assigned KPS (P=0.0031), sex (P=0.0074), ELN cytogenetic risk (P=0.0194), creatinine (P=0.027), albumin (P=0.0052), white blood cell (WBC) count (P=0.0135), LDH (P=0.0004), and treatment response (P=0.0001) were significant clinical predictors of OS. Significant CGA variables included Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration score (P=0.0035), Bend-Kneel-Stoop (P=0.0239), “someone to prepare your meals” (P=0.0253) and self-reporting of heart disease (P<0.001). In a multivariate analysis controlling for age and cytogenetic risk, physician-assigned KPS (HR, 1.804; 95% CI 1.175 to 2.768), self-reported cardiac history (HR, 2.290; 95% CI 1.383 to 3.794), and WBC count <11.2/ul (HR, 2.360; 95% CI 1.415 to 3.936) were the only independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Conclusion In this study, age and cytogenetics remain the strongest predictors of OS in older patients with AML. While completion of the CGA was feasible, only performance status (KPS) was predictive of OS. Many measures previously reported as significant predictors of outcome, including impaired physical function (Klepin 2013), medication intake (Hurria 2011), pain (Sherman 2013), and HCT-CI score (Sorror 2005, 2009) were not predictive in our study population. The role of the CGA as a predictor of OS in AML requires further evaluation. The utility of the CGA in predicting functional performance and/or quality of life for older AML patients throughout treatment should also be investigated. Disclosures Ritchie: Celgene, Incyte: Speakers Bureau. Feldman:Ariad: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.

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Patterns of undertreatment among patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML): considerations for patients eligible for non-intensive chemotherapy (NIC)

Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1007/s00432-021-03756-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Hubscher ◽

Slaven Sikirica ◽

Timothy Bell ◽

Andrew Brown ◽

Verna Welch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Performance Status ◽

Poor Performance ◽

The Elderly ◽

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

Best Supportive Care ◽

Poor Performance Status ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Acute Myeloid

AbstractAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a life-threatening malignancy that is more prevalent in the elderly. Because the patient population is heterogenous and advanced in age, choosing the optimal therapy can be challenging. There is strong evidence supporting antileukemic therapy, including standard intensive induction chemotherapy (IC) and non-intensive chemotherapy (NIC), for older patients with AML, and guidelines recommend treatment selection based on a patient’s individual and disease characteristics as opposed to age alone. Nonetheless, historic evidence indicates that a high proportion of patients who may be candidates for NIC receive no active antileukemic treatment (NAAT), instead receiving only best supportive care (BSC). We conducted a focused literature review to assess current real-world patterns of undertreatment in AML. From a total of 25 identified studies reporting the proportion of patients with AML receiving NAAT, the proportion of patients treated with NAAT varied widely, ranging from 10 to 61.4% in the US and 24.1 to 35% in Europe. Characteristics associated with receipt of NAAT included clinical factors such as age, poor performance status, comorbidities, and uncontrolled concomitant conditions, as well as sociodemographic factors such as female sex, unmarried status, and lower income. Survival was diminished among patients receiving NAAT, with reported median overall survival values ranging from 1.2 to 4.8 months compared to 5 to 14.4 months with NIC. These findings suggest a proportion of patients who are candidates for NIC receive NAAT, potentially forfeiting the survival benefit of active antileukemic treatment.

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Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Versus Best Supportive Care in Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Unsuitable for Intensive Chemotherapy: Results of the Randomized Phase III EORTC-GIMEMA AML-19 Trial

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2015.64.0060 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (9) ◽

pp. 972-979 ◽

Cited By ~ 148

Author(s):

Sergio Amadori ◽

Stefan Suciu ◽

Dominik Selleslag ◽

Franco Aversa ◽

Gianluca Gaidano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Complete Remission ◽

Older Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Best Supportive Care ◽

Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

First Line ◽

Expression Status ◽

Acute Myeloid

Purpose To compare single-agent gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) with best supportive care (BSC) including hydroxyurea as first-line therapy in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy. Patients and Methods In this trial, patients at least 61 years old were centrally randomized (1:1) to receive either a single induction course of GO (6 mg/m2 on day 1 and 3 mg/m2 on day 8) or BSC. Patients who did not progress after GO induction could receive up to eight monthly infusions of the immunoconjugate at 2 mg/m2. Randomization was stratified by age, WHO performance score, CD33 expression status, and center. The primary end point was overall survival (OS) by intention-to-treat analysis. Results A total of 237 patients were randomly assigned (118 to GO and 119 to BSC). The median OS was 4.9 months (95% CI, 4.2 to 6.8 months) in the GO group and 3.6 months (95% CI, 2.6 to 4.2 months) in the BSC group (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.90; P = .005); the 1-year OS rate was 24.3% with GO and 9.7% with BSC. The OS benefit with GO was consistent across most subgroups, and was especially apparent in patients with high CD33 expression status, in those with favorable/intermediate cytogenetic risk profile, and in women. Overall, complete remission (CR [complete remission] + CRi [CR with incomplete recovery of peripheral blood counts]) occurred in 30 of 111 (27%) GO recipients. The rates of serious adverse events (AEs) were similar in the two groups, and no excess mortality from AEs was observed with GO. Conclusion First-line monotherapy with low-dose GO, as compared with BSC, significantly improved OS in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. No unexpected AEs were identified and toxicity was manageable.

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Epigenetic therapy is associated with similar survival compared with intensive chemotherapy in older patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2012-06-436055 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 120 (24) ◽

pp. 4840-4845 ◽

Cited By ~ 141

Author(s):

Alfonso Quintás-Cardama ◽

Farhad Ravandi ◽

Theresa Liu-Dumlao ◽

Mark Brandt ◽

Stefan Faderl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Older Patients ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Performance Status ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Epigenetic Therapy ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Newly Diagnosed ◽

Similar Survival ◽

Acute Myeloid

Abstract We reviewed the outcome of 671 patients 65 years of age or older with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated at our institution between 2000 and 2010 with intensive chemotherapy (n = 557) or azacitidine- or decitabine-based therapy (n = 114). Both groups were balanced according to cytogenetics and performance status. The complete response rates with chemotherapy and epigenetic therapy were 42% and 28%, respectively (P = .001), and the 8-week mortality 18% and 11%, respectively (P = .075). Two-year relapse-free survival rates (28% vs 39%, P = .843) and median survival (6.7 vs 6.5 months, P = .413) were similar in the 2 groups. Multivariate analysis identified older age, adverse cytogenetics, poor performance status, elevated creatinine, peripheral blood and BM blasts, and hemoglobin, but not type of AML therapy, as independent prognostic factors for survival. No outcome differences were observed according to cytogenetics, FLT3 mutational status, age, or performance status by therapy type. Decitabine was associated with improved median overall survival compared with azacitidine (5.5 vs 8.8 months, respectively, P = .03). Survival after failure of intensive chemotherapy, azacitidine, or decitabine was more favorable in patients who had previously received decitabine (1.1 vs 0.9 vs 3.1 months, respectively, P = .109). The results of the present study show that epigenetic therapy is associated with similar survival rates as intensive chemotherapy in older patients with newly diagnosed AML. The studies reviewed are registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as 2009-0172 (NCT00926731) and 2009-0217 (NCT00952588).

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Rapid Efficacy of Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin in Refractory AML Patients with Pulmonary and Kidney Failure

Biology ◽

10.3390/biology9020028 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 28

Author(s):

Daniil Zaytsev ◽

Larisa Girshova ◽

Vladimir Ivanov ◽

Irina Budaeva ◽

Dmitri Motorin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Kidney Failure ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Performance Status ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin ◽

Poor Performance Status ◽

Intensive Chemotherapy ◽

Acute Myeloid ◽

Refractory Aml

Objectives: To the best of our knowledge, data from Gemtuzumab ozogamicin in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients with failure of organ functions and poor performance status are extremely lacking. Moreover, the fast recovery from organ failure, after Gemtuzumab ozogamicin administration, has never been reported. This study aimed to demonstrate the efficacy and rapid response of Gemtuzumab ozogamicin in refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with pulmonary and kidney failure and poor performance status. Three refractory AML patients, with organ dysfunction, are described. One patient was pre-treated with intensive chemotherapy, and two other patients progressed during Azacitidine treatment. Two patients had respiratory failure grade 2 and one patient suffered from acute kidney insufficiency. Two patients were highly febrile with an elevated С-Reactive Protein (CRP) level. The WHO performance status of three was measured in all patients. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin administration was performed in three patients, followed by a further switch to Gemtuzumab ozogamicin + Azacitidine or “7+3” treatment. Results: Gemtuzumab ozogamicin administration resulted in abrupt fever cessation in two febrile patients simultaneously with a rapid decrease in CRP level and fast resolution of respiratory failure. Recovery of kidney function was noticed rapidly in patients with renal insufficiency. The WHO performance status was elevated in all three patients. No adverse grade II–III effects were noticed. Further treatment made two patients eligible for intensive chemotherapy, one patient underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation, and the patient with kidney failure obtained complete remission. Conclusions: Gemtuzumab ozogamicin therapy appeared to be safe and highly efficacious in relapsed/refractory AML patients with organ dysfunction, like pulmonary or renal failure and poor performance status, and may contribute to rapid recovery from organ failures.

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