A treatment commonly used as a salvage regimen for relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) showed better results than did standard treatment when used as initial induction therapy.
Researchers found that the use of fludarabine, high-dose cytarabine, with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (FLAG) – with or without idarubicin (Ida) – resulted in higher remission rates for nonfavorable risk AML patients after one course of induction, compared with standard 7+3 (anthracycline plus cytarabine) treatment.
The use of FLAG+/-Ida also resulted in a shorter time to complete remission (CR) and a shorter time to transplant, compared with 7+3. Additionally, postremission overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were better after achieving CR from FLAG-Ida, compared with 7+3, Melhem Solh, MD, of the Blood & Marrow Transplant Program at Northside Hospital, Atlanta, and colleagues reported in Leukemia Research.
The researchers retrospectively analyzed 304 consecutive AML patients, with nonfavorable National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk who received initial treatment at their center with either 7+3 (86 patients) or FLAG+/-Ida (218 patients). They found that patients in the FLAG+/-Ida group were more likely to achieve remission after one course of induction (74% vs. 62%; P less than .001) and had a faster time to achieve CR (30 days vs. 37.5 days; P less than .001), compared with patients receiving 7+3.
The time from diagnosis to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation was shorter among CR patients after FLAG+/-Ida, compared with 7+3 (115 days vs. 151 days; P less than .003).
Additionally, the 3-year postremission OS and DFS were significantly better for patients receiving FLAG-Ida at 54% and 49%, compared with 39% and 32% for 7+3, respectively (P = .01).
Dr. Solh and colleagues found that the factors associated with postremission survival included age at first CR, NCCN risk, induction regimen (FLAG+/-Ida vs. 7+3; hazard ratio, 0.62; P = .01), and receipt of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
“FLAG-Ida is a more efficacious regimen when used for initial induction compared to 3+7. It appears to produce better survival and improved postremission survival for AML patients with intermediate and poor risk AML without increasing toxicity,” Dr. Solh and colleagues wrote. “Further validation of these results in a well-designed randomized prospective trial will help define the best induction approaches for AML.”
There was no outside funding for this research and the authors reported that they had no relevant financial conflicts.
SOURCE: Solh MM et al. Leuk Res. 2020 Feb 14. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2020.106318.