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HAEMATOLOGICAL CANCER

Venetoclax in AML: efficacy confirmed

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 17, page 592 (2020)Cite this article

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In 2018, data from a single-arm phase Ib study resulted in the FDA accelerated approval of venetoclax, an inhibitor of the antiapoptotic protein BCL-2, in combination with a hypomethylating agent for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) who are ≥75 years of age or ineligible for intensive induction chemotherapy. Now, findings of the phase III VIALE-A trial confirm the efficacy of this treatment strategy.

In VIALE-A, 431 patients were randomly assigned (2:1) to received standard treatment with azacitidine plus either venetoclax or placebo. The complete remission (CR) rate was 36.7% with venetoclax versus 17.9% with placebo, and the composite CR or CR with incomplete haematological recovery (CR + CRi) rate was 66.4% versus 28.3% (P < 0.001 for both comparisons). Moreover, the median time to first response was shorter with venetoclax (1.3 months versus 2.8 months), and the median duration of response was longer (17.5 months versus 13.4 months).

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References

Original article

  • DiNardo, C. D. et al. Azacitidine and venetoclax in previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia. N. Engl. J. Med. 383, 617–629 (2020)

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  1. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology http://www.nature.com/nrclinonc

    David Killock

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  1. David Killock
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Correspondence to David Killock.

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Killock, D. Venetoclax in AML: efficacy confirmed. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 17, 592 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-020-00430-8

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