Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow characterized by the presence of excess immature white blood cells. In older patients with AML, the treatment with hypomethylation agents is associated with a dismal prognosis. This study aims to assess the efficacy of azacitidine-venotoxlaxn combination therapy in patients with previously untreated AML.
This study included a total of 431 patients aged 75 years or above with confirmed AML who were ineligible for standard induction therapy. The patients were assigned to the standard dose of azacitidine with venetoclax or matching placebo. The primary outcome of the study was overall survival.
Of 431 patients, 286 were in the combination group and 145 in the placebo group. At a median follow-up of 20.5 months, the median overall survival was 14.7 months in the azacitidine-venotoxlaxn combination group and 9.6 months in the placebo group. The incidence of complete remission (36.7%) and composite complete remission (66.4%) was also higher in the combination group, as compared with the placebo group (17.9% and 28.3%). The risk of adverse events, including nausea, thrombocytopenia, and febrile neutropenia was higher in the combination group.
The research concluded that azacitidine-venotoxlaxn combination therapy showed promising results in patients with previously untreated AML.
Ref: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2012971
