Acute myeloid leukaemia DiNardo, Courtney D; Erba, Harry P; Freeman, Sylvie D ...
Lancet,
06/2023, Volume:
401, Issue:
10393
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Progress in acute myeloid leukaemia treatment is occurring at an unprecedented pace. The past decade has witnessed an increasingly improved scientific understanding of the underlying biology of acute ...myeloid leukaemia, leading to enhanced prognostication tools and refined risk assessments, and most especially incorporating measurable residual disease (MRD) into longitudinal risk assessments. The classification of acute myeloid leukaemia has recently been updated by WHO and the International Consensus Classification (ICC). Recommendations for prognostic stratification, response assessment, and MRD determination have also been updated by the European LeukemiaNet. Treatment options have evolved substantially in the last 5 years for patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia, leading to improved outcomes in intensively treated patients and those more appropriate for non-intensive chemotherapy. More effective targeted treatment options in the relapsed setting are also available, further advancing the treatment armamentarium and improving patient outcomes.
Summary Background Internal tandem duplication mutations in FLT3 are common in acute myeloid leukaemia and are associated with rapid relapse and short overall survival. The clinical benefit of FLT3 ...inhibitors in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia has been limited by rapid generation of resistance mutations, particularly in codon Asp835 (D835). We aimed to assess the highly selective oral FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia. Methods In this phase 1–2 trial, we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with acute myeloid leukaemia who either were refractory to induction therapy or had relapsed after achieving remission with previous treatment. Patients were enrolled into one of seven dose-escalation or dose-expansion cohorts assigned to receive once-daily doses of oral gilteritinib (20 mg, 40 mg, 80 mg, 120 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg, or 450 mg). Cohort expansion was based on safety and tolerability, FLT3 inhibition in correlative assays, and antileukaemic activity. Although the presence of an FLT3 mutation was not an inclusion criterion, we required ten or more patients with locally confirmed FLT3 mutations ( FLT3mut+ ) to be enrolled in expansion cohorts at each dose level. On the basis of emerging findings, we further expanded the 120 mg and 200 mg dose cohorts to include FLT3mut+ patients only. The primary endpoints were the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of gilteritinib. Safety and tolerability were assessed in the safety analysis set (all patients who received at least one dose of gilteritinib). Responses were assessed in the full analysis set (all patients who received at least one dose of study drug and who had at least one datapoint post-treatment). Pharmacokinetics were assessed in a subset of the safety analysis set for which sufficient data for concentrations of gilteritinib in plasma were available to enable derivation of one or more pharmacokinetic variables. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02014558 , and is ongoing. Findings Between Oct 15, 2013, and Aug 27, 2015, 252 adults with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia received oral gilteritinib once daily in one of seven dose-escalation (n=23) or dose-expansion (n=229) cohorts. Gilteritinib was well tolerated; the maximum tolerated dose was established as 300 mg/day when two of three patients enrolled in the 450 mg dose-escalation cohort had two dose-limiting toxicities (grade 3 diarrhoea and grade 3 elevated aspartate aminotransferase). The most common grade 3–4 adverse events irrespective of relation to treatment were febrile neutropenia (97 39% of 252), anaemia (61 24%), thrombocytopenia (33 13%), sepsis (28 11%), and pneumonia (27 11%). Commonly reported treatment-related adverse events were diarrhoea (92 37% of 252), anaemia (86 34%), fatigue (83 33%), elevated aspartate aminotransferase (65 26%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (47 19%). Serious adverse events occurring in 5% or more of patients were febrile neutropenia (98 39% of 252; five related to treatment), progressive disease (43 17%), sepsis (36 14%; two related to treatment), pneumonia (27 11%), acute renal failure (25 10%; five related to treatment), pyrexia (21 8%; three related to treatment), bacteraemia (14 6%; one related to treatment), and respiratory failure (14 6%). 95 people died in the safety analysis set, of which seven deaths were judged possibly or probably related to treatment (pulmonary embolism 200 mg/day, respiratory failure 120 mg/day, haemoptysis 80 mg/day, intracranial haemorrhage 20 mg/day, ventricular fibrillation 120 mg/day, septic shock 80 mg/day, and neutropenia 120 mg/day). An exposure-related increase in inhibition of FLT3 phosphorylation was noted with increasing concentrations in plasma of gilteritinib. In-vivo inhibition of FLT3 phosphorylation occurred at all dose levels. At least 90% of FLT3 phosphorylation inhibition was seen by day 8 in most patients receiving a daily dose of 80 mg or higher. 100 (40%) of 249 patients in the full analysis set achieved a response, with 19 (8%) achieving complete remission, ten (4%) complete remission with incomplete platelet recovery, 46 (18%) complete remission with incomplete haematological recovery, and 25 (10%) partial remission Interpretation Gilteritinib had a favourable safety profile and showed consistent FLT3 inhibition in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia. These findings confirm that FLT3 is a high-value target for treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia; based on activity data, gilteritinib at 120 mg/day is being tested in phase 3 trials. Funding Astellas Pharma, National Cancer Institute (Leukemia Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant), Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can develop after an antecedent myeloid malignancy (secondary AML s-AML), after leukemogenic therapy (therapy-related AML t-AML), or without an identifiable prodrome or ...known exposure (de novo AML). The genetic basis of these distinct pathways of AML development has not been determined. We performed targeted mutational analysis of 194 patients with rigorously defined s-AML or t-AML and 105 unselected AML patients. The presence of a mutation in SRSF2, SF3B1, U2AF1, ZRSR2, ASXL1, EZH2, BCOR, or STAG2 was >95% specific for the diagnosis of s-AML. Analysis of serial samples from individual patients revealed that these mutations occur early in leukemogenesis and often persist in clonal remissions. In t-AML and elderly de novo AML populations, these alterations define a distinct genetic subtype that shares clinicopathologic properties with clinically confirmed s-AML and highlights a subset of patients with worse clinical outcomes, including a lower complete remission rate, more frequent reinduction, and decreased event-free survival. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00715637.
•The presence of a mutation in SRSF2, SF3B1, U2AF1, ZRSR2, ASXL1, EZH2, BCOR, or STAG2 is highly specific for secondary AML.•Secondary-type mutations define an s-AML–like disease within t-AML and elderly de novo AML that underlies clinical heterogeneity.
Mutations in the gene encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 ( IDH1) occur in 6 to 10% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ivosidenib (AG-120) is an oral, targeted, small-molecule inhibitor ...of mutant IDH1.
We conducted a phase 1 dose-escalation and dose-expansion study of ivosidenib monotherapy in IDH1-mutated AML. Safety and efficacy were assessed in all treated patients. The primary efficacy population included patients with relapsed or refractory AML receiving 500 mg of ivosidenib daily with at least 6 months of follow-up.
Overall, 258 patients received ivosidenib and had safety outcomes assessed. Among patients with relapsed or refractory AML (179 patients), treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or higher that occurred in at least 3 patients were prolongation of the QT interval (in 7.8% of the patients), the IDH differentiation syndrome (in 3.9%), anemia (in 2.2%), thrombocytopenia or a decrease in the platelet count (in 3.4%), and leukocytosis (in 1.7%). In the primary efficacy population (125 patients), the rate of complete remission or complete remission with partial hematologic recovery was 30.4% (95% confidence interval CI, 22.5 to 39.3), the rate of complete remission was 21.6% (95% CI, 14.7 to 29.8), and the overall response rate was 41.6% (95% CI, 32.9 to 50.8). The median durations of these responses were 8.2 months (95% CI, 5.5 to 12.0), 9.3 months (95% CI, 5.6 to 18.3), and 6.5 months (95% CI, 4.6 to 9.3), respectively. Transfusion independence was attained in 29 of 84 patients (35%), and patients who had a response had fewer infections and febrile neutropenia episodes than those who did not have a response. Among 34 patients who had a complete remission or complete remission with partial hematologic recovery, 7 (21%) had no residual detectable IDH1 mutations on digital polymerase-chain-reaction assay. No preexisting co-occurring single gene mutation predicted clinical response or resistance to treatment.
In patients with advanced IDH1-mutated relapsed or refractory AML, ivosidenib at a dose of 500 mg daily was associated with a low frequency of grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events and with transfusion independence, durable remissions, and molecular remissions in some patients with complete remission. (Funded by Agios Pharmaceuticals; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02074839 .).
Approximately fifty percent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia can be cured with current therapeutic strategies which include, standard dose chemotherapy for patients at standard risk of relapse ...as assessed by cytogenetic and molecular analysis, or high-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant for high-risk patients. Despite allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant about 25% of patients still succumb to disease relapse, therefore, novel strategies are needed to improve the outcome of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
We developed an immunotherapeutic strategy targeting the CD33 myeloid antigen, expressed in ~ 85-90% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia, using chimeric antigen receptor redirected T-cells. Considering that administration of CAR T-cells has been associated with cytokine release syndrome and other potential off-tumor effects in patients, safety measures were here investigated and reported. We genetically modified human activated T-cells from healthy donors or patients with acute myeloid leukemia with retroviral supernatant encoding the inducible Caspase9 suicide gene, a ΔCD19 selectable marker, and a humanized third generation chimeric antigen receptor recognizing human CD33. ΔCD19 selected inducible Caspase9-CAR.CD33 T-cells had a 75±3.8% (average ± standard error of the mean) chimeric antigen receptor expression, were able to specifically lyse CD33+ targets in vitro, including freshly isolated leukemic blasts from patients, produce significant amount of tumor-necrosis-factor-alpha and interferon-gamma, express the CD107a degranulation marker, and proliferate upon antigen specific stimulation. Challenging ΔCD19 selected inducible Caspase9-CAR.CD33 T-cells with programmed-death-ligand-1 enriched leukemia blasts resulted in significant killing like observed for the programmed-death-ligand-1 negative leukemic blasts fraction. Since the administration of 10 nanomolar of a non-therapeutic dimerizer to activate the suicide gene resulted in the elimination of only 76.4±2.0% gene modified cells in vitro, we found that co-administration of the dimerizer with either the BCL-2 inhibitor ABT-199, the pan-BCL inhibitor ABT-737, or mafosfamide, resulted in an additive effect up to complete cell elimination.
This strategy could be investigated for the safety of CAR T-cell applications, and targeting CD33 could be used as a 'bridge" therapy for patients coming to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, as anti-leukemia activity from infusing CAR.CD33 T-cells has been demonstrated in an ongoing clinical trial. Albeit never performed in the clinical setting, our future plan is to investigate the utility of iC9-CAR.CD33 T-cells as part of the conditioning therapy for an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia, together with other myelosuppressive agents, whilst the activation of the inducible Caspase9 suicide gene would grant elimination of the infused gene modified T-cells prior to stem cell infusion to reduce the risk of engraftment failure as the CD33 is also expressed on a proportion of the donor stem cell graft.
Patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with mutations in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene (
) infrequently have a response to salvage chemotherapy. Gilteritinib is an ...oral, potent, selective FLT3 inhibitor with single-agent activity in relapsed or refractory
-mutated AML.
In a phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned adults with relapsed or refractory
-mutated AML in a 2:1 ratio to receive either gilteritinib (at a dose of 120 mg per day) or salvage chemotherapy. The two primary end points were overall survival and the percentage of patients who had complete remission with full or partial hematologic recovery. Secondary end points included event-free survival (freedom from treatment failure i.e., relapse or lack of remission or death) and the percentage of patients who had complete remission.
Of 371 eligible patients, 247 were randomly assigned to the gilteritinib group and 124 to the salvage chemotherapy group. The median overall survival in the gilteritinib group was significantly longer than that in the chemotherapy group (9.3 months vs. 5.6 months; hazard ratio for death, 0.64; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.49 to 0.83; P<0.001). The median event-free survival was 2.8 months in the gilteritinib group and 0.7 months in the chemotherapy group (hazard ratio for treatment failure or death, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.58 to 1.09). The percentage of patients who had complete remission with full or partial hematologic recovery was 34.0% in the gilteritinib group and 15.3% in the chemotherapy group (risk difference, 18.6 percentage points; 95% CI, 9.8 to 27.4); the percentages with complete remission were 21.1% and 10.5%, respectively (risk difference, 10.6 percentage points; 95% CI, 2.8 to 18.4). In an analysis that was adjusted for therapy duration, adverse events of grade 3 or higher and serious adverse events occurred less frequently in the gilteritinib group than in the chemotherapy group; the most common adverse events of grade 3 or higher in the gilteritinib group were febrile neutropenia (45.9%), anemia (40.7%), and thrombocytopenia (22.8%).
Gilteritinib resulted in significantly longer survival and higher percentages of patients with remission than salvage chemotherapy among patients with relapsed or refractory
-mutated AML. (Funded by Astellas Pharma; ADMIRAL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02421939.).
Highlights • No standard of care exists for older patients with newly diagnosed AML. • Prognosis for these patients with recommended low-intensity therapies is poor. • This review discusses ...developing combination therapies for older unfit patients. • Definition of “unfit for intensive chemotherapy” remains a challenge.
Data regarding the efficacy of treatment with ibrutinib-rituximab, as compared with standard chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab, in patients with previously ...untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been limited.
In a phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned (in a 2:1 ratio) patients 70 years of age or younger with previously untreated CLL to receive either ibrutinib and rituximab for six cycles (after a single cycle of ibrutinib alone), followed by ibrutinib until disease progression, or six cycles of chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab. The primary end point was progression-free survival, and overall survival was a secondary end point. We report the results of a planned interim analysis.
A total of 529 patients underwent randomization (354 patients to the ibrutinib-rituximab group, and 175 to the chemoimmunotherapy group). At a median follow-up of 33.6 months, the results of the analysis of progression-free survival favored ibrutinib-rituximab over chemoimmunotherapy (89.4% vs. 72.9% at 3 years; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.35; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.22 to 0.56; P<0.001), and the results met the protocol-defined efficacy threshold for the interim analysis. The results of the analysis of overall survival also favored ibrutinib-rituximab over chemoimmunotherapy (98.8% vs. 91.5% at 3 years; hazard ratio for death, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.54; P<0.001). In a subgroup analysis involving patients without immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region (
) mutation, ibrutinib-rituximab resulted in better progression-free survival than chemoimmunotherapy (90.7% vs. 62.5% at 3 years; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.50). The 3-year progression-free survival among patients with
mutation was 87.7% in the ibrutinib-rituximab group and 88.0% in the chemoimmunotherapy group (hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.14 to 1.36). The incidence of adverse events of grade 3 or higher (regardless of attribution) was similar in the two groups (in 282 of 352 patients 80.1% who received ibrutinib-rituximab and in 126 of 158 79.7% who received chemoimmunotherapy), whereas infectious complications of grade 3 or higher were less common with ibrutinib-rituximab than with chemoimmunotherapy (in 37 patients 10.5% vs. 32 20.3%, P<0.001).
The ibrutinib-rituximab regimen resulted in progression-free survival and overall survival that were superior to those with a standard chemoimmunotherapy regimen among patients 70 years of age or younger with previously untreated CLL. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and Pharmacyclics; E1912 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02048813.).
Ivosidenib (AG-120) is an oral, targeted agent that suppresses production of the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate via inhibition of the mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1; mIDH1) enzyme. From a ...phase 1 study of 258 patients with IDH1-mutant hematologic malignancies, we report results for 34 patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for standard therapy who received 500 mg ivosidenib daily. Median age was 76.5 years, 26 patients (76%) had secondary AML, and 16 (47%) had received ≥1 hypomethylating agent for an antecedent hematologic disorder. The most common all-grade adverse events were diarrhea (n = 18; 53%), fatigue (n = 16; 47%), nausea (n = 13; 38%), and decreased appetite (n = 12; 35%). Differentiation syndrome was reported in 6 patients (18%) (grade ≥3 in 3 9%) and did not require treatment discontinuation. Complete remission (CR) plus CR with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) rate was 42.4% (95% confidence interval CI, 25.5% to 60.8%); CR 30.3% (95% CI, 15.6% to 48.7%). Median durations of CR+CRh and CR were not reached, with 95% CI lower bounds of 4.6 and 4.2 months, respectively; 61.5% and 77.8% of patients remained in remission at 1 year. With median follow-up of 23.5 months (range, 0.6-40.9 months), median overall survival was 12.6 months (95% CI, 4.5-25.7). Of 21 transfusion-dependent patients (63.6%) at baseline, 9 (42.9%) became transfusion independent. IDH1 mutation clearance was seen in 9/14 patients achieving CR+CRh (5/10 CR; 4/4 CRh). Ivosidenib monotherapy was well-tolerated and induced durable remissions and transfusion independence in patients with newly diagnosed AML. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02074839.
•In patients with newly diagnosed mIDH1 AML (median age, 76 years), ivosidenib monotherapy achieved median overall survival of 12.6 months.•The CR/CRh rate was 42.4%; mutation clearance in 64% patients with CR/CRh suggests that ivosidenib alters the biology of mIDH1 AML.
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Abstract
Objectives
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) represents a high-risk and somewhat diverse subtype of AML, and substantial confusion exists about the ...pathologic evaluation needed for diagnosis, which can include the patient’s clinical history, cytogenetic analysis, mutational analysis, and/or morphologic evaluation. Treatment decisions based on incomplete or untimely pathology reports may result in the suboptimal treatment of patients with AML-MRC.
Methods
Using a PubMed search, diagnosis of and treatment options for AML-MRC were investigated.
Results
This article reviews the current diagnostic criteria for AML-MRC, provides guidance on assessments necessary for an AML-MRC diagnosis, summarizes clinical and prognostic features of AML-MRC, and discusses potential therapies for patients with AML-MRC. In addition to conventional chemotherapy, treatment options include CPX-351, a liposomal encapsulation of daunorubicin/cytarabine approved for treatment of adults with AML-MRC; targeted agents for patients with certain mutations/disease characteristics; and lower-intensity therapies for less fit patients.
Conclusions
Given the evolving and complex treatment landscape and the high-risk nature of the AML-MRC population, a clear understanding of the pathology information necessary for AML-MRC diagnosis has become increasingly important to help guide treatment decisions and thereby improve patient outcomes.
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