Key clinical point : Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients treated with hypomethylating agents (HMA), especially those with higher-risk MDS have unmet clinical needs in real-world setting.
Major finding : Median survival was 11.6 months, 18.4 months, and 19.1 months for the higher-risk, intermediate-risk, and unknown-risk groups, respectively. Corresponding median time-to-AML transformation for the 3 groups were 19.3 months, 50.4 months, and 'not reached', respectively.
Study details : The data come from 3,046 MDS patients treated with HMA from the SEER-Medicare database. The patients were categorized as higher-risk, intermediate-risk, and unknown-risk.
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by Novartis. I Sadek and X Cao are employees and stockholders of Novartis. G Bonifacio was an employee and stockholder of Novartis at the time of the study. EM Stein provided paid consulting services to Novartis. D Latremouille-Viau, S Shi, A Guerin, and EQ Wu are employees of Analysis Group, Inc. which provided paid consulting services to Novartis.
Source: Stein EM et al. Leuk Lymphoma. 2021 Jan 11. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2020.1869959 .