How have venetoclax combinations changed the way we treat AML?

During the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO), the AML Hub spoke to Daniel Pollyea, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, US. We asked: How have venetoclax combinations changed the way we treat AML?

He discusses results from the randomized phase III study comparing venetoclax + azacitidine vs azacitidine alone as frontline treatment for elderly or unfit patients with AML. The data highlighted a significant improvement in response rates in patients receiving venetoclax + azacitadine vs azacitidine alone. Daniel Pollyea classifies this regimen as the standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed AML who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

Venetoclax based regimens are not limited to unfit patients, but are also being explored in other subsets of patients with AML, such as those with poor prognostic risk factors for intensive chemotherapy.