KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of venetoclax with hypomethylating agents versus the HAG regimen.
- The results revealed that VEN-HMA outperformed HAG in newly diagnosed AML; efficacy was similar in relapsed/refractory AML.
Fei Xin and the team aimed to compare the effectiveness of venetoclax combined with hypomethylating agents (VEN-HMA) versus the HAG regimen in newly diagnosed patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Researchers studied 52 cases of newly diagnosed AML and 26 cases of relapsed/refractory AML, including patients with treatment-related and ELN-adverse risk disease (n = 50). These patients received treatment with either venetoclax combined with hypomethylating agents or HAG regimens.
About 29 patients were treated with VEN-HMA, while 23 patients received the HAG regimen. The median age was 70 years for the VEN-HMA group and 69 years for the HAG group. The VEN-HMA group achieved a significantly higher complete remission rate (82.7%) compared to the HAG group (21.7%) (P < 0.001).
Additionally, the VEN-HMA group showed a significant survival advantage over the HAG group (HR = 0.328, 95% CI: 0.158-0.683, P= 0.003). In patients with relapsed and refractory AML, 43.8% of those in the VEN-HMA group achieved complete remission, similar to the 50% in the HAG group (P> 0.99). The median overall survival was also similar between the VEN-HMA and HAG groups at 4 months and 3.67 months, respectively (P= 0.290).
The study concluded that venetoclax with hypomethylating agents led to better therapeutic outcomes compared to the HAG regimen for newly diagnosed patients with AML, with higher rates of complete remission and overall survival. For patients with relapsed or refractory AML, there was no significant difference in efficacy between the 2 treatments. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted.
Funding support was provided by the Hematology Department in Heping Hospital, Affiliated with Changzhi Medical College.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38748459/
Xin F, Yu YH, Shen XL, et al. (2024). “The efficacy of the combination of venetoclax and hypomethylating agents versus HAG agents in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: a retrospective study.” Hematology. 2024 Dec;29(1):2350319. doi: 10.1080/16078454.2024.2350319. Epub 2024 May 15. PMID: 38748459.
