ASH 2021 | FLAG-IDA plus venetoclax induction and consolidation in newly diagnosed patients with AML

Curtis Lachowiez, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, gives an update on the results of the Phase Ib/II study evaluating FLAG-IDA (fludarabine, cytarabine, idarubicin, G-CSF) plus venetoclax induction and consolidation therapy in newly diagnosed patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (NCT03214562). The study reported an overall response rate (ORR) of 98%. After a median follow-up of 19 months, median overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were not reached. Patients with NPM1, IDH1 and/or IDH2 mutations, and with KMT2A rearrangements had an 18-month survival rate of 100%. In contrast, patients with TP53 mutations had worse outcomes and all four patients with baseline TP53 mutations relapsed. In addition, in an analysis comparing patients receiving FLAG-IDA plus venetoclax to patients receiving frontline FIA (fludarabine, idarubicin, cytarabine), it was shown that FLAG-IDA plus venetoclax was associated with improved median OS, with a trend towards improved OS and EFS in patients not undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This interview took place at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in Atlanta, GA.