ASH 2021 | Comparison of venetoclax-based versus non-venetoclax-based treatment regimens in AML

Venetoclax is approved in combination with azacitidine, decitabine, or low dose cytarabine for patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are over 75 years old or who cannot receive chemotherapy. Jacqueline Garcia, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, discusses preliminary findings from the AML Real World Evidence (ARC) initiative, which explored real-world practices and clinical outcomes of patients with AML treated with venetoclax-based versus non-venetoclax-based treatment regimens. In this study, patients were randomly selected and matched on age and ELN risk. The preliminary analysis included 145 patients treated with different venetoclax combinations and 145 control newly diagnosed patients with AML treated with low-intensity regimens such as decitabine and azacitidine and high-intensity regimens including cytarabine plus daunorubicin and CPX-351. Composite complete remission (CCR) rate was 60.4% in the venetoclax group compared to 50% in the control group. The 1-year overall survival (OS) was 62.6% in the venetoclax cohort and 49.8% in the control cohort. Subgroup analyses indicated that outcomes were similar between both cohorts in patients below 75 years old. These results support the real-world effectiveness of venetoclax treatment combinations and are consistent with findings from clinical trials. This interview took place at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in Atlanta, GA.