5-Azacytidine to Treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia In Elderly or Frail Patients: A Phase II Study (SAKK 30/07)

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in the elderly is notoriously difficult to treat and has a low remission rate with very few long term survivors when using standard treatment approaches. Azacytidine, a hypomethylating agent, has been shown to induce remission and prolong survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes; studying this approach to patients with AML is therefore warranted. We present results of an ongoing phase II trial treating elderly or frail AML patients with Azacytidine.

AML elderly or frail patients, and therefore unfit for an intensive chemotherapy regimens, with a WHO performance status ≤ 3 were considered for this trial. Trial therapy consisted of 100mg/m² of Azacytidine injected subcutaneously on 5 consecutive days every 28 days up to 6 cycles, stopping at 6 months if no hematological improvement achieved, or earlier in the case of progression or complications. Treatment was continued beyond 6 months in responding patients. Trial therapy was considered uninteresting if the response rate (CR + PR) within 6 months of therapy initiation was 15% or less and promising if 34% or more. Using the exact single-stage phase II design by A’Hern with a 5% significance level and 90% power, 43 patients were required: If 10 or fewer achieved a response within 6 months the trial therapy should not be considered for further investigation in its current format for this indication and patient population.

Between September 2008 and January 2010, 45 evaluable patients across 10 Swiss centers were accrued with a median follow-up of 7 months (range: 0 – 13). 27 (60%) were male, median age was 74 (range: 55 – 86) years and 35 (78.8%) had performance status 0–1. Patients had been excluded from more intensive chemotherapy regimens because of age (n = 37) or due to comorbidities or patient refusal (n=8). Five patients had therapy related AML.

Patients received a median of 3 (range: 1 – 10) cycles. Treatment was stopped for not achieving a response by the 6th cycle in 2 patients and earlier in 26 patients (for disease progression in 5, toxicity in 3, patient refusal in 2, recurrent infections in 1, and death in 8). Seventeen patients remain on therapy. The median time spent in the hospital was 12 days (1 - 30) in 24/38 patients hospitalized during the first treatment cycle and 13 days (2 - 28) in 15/31 patients hospitalized during subsequent cycles.

Adverse events of grade III or higher most frequently reported were constitutional or hematologic, i.e. fatigue in 5, febrile neutropenia in 8, infections in 6, dyspnea in 6, anemia in 3, neutropenia in 12 and thrombocytopenia in 10, hemorrhage in 2 and retinal detachment in 5.

Based on available data on 38 patients, CR/CRi or hematologic improvement or stable disease within 6 months of trial registration was observed in a proportion of patients. Final and mature data, determining whether the predefined proportion of responding patients has been reached or not, will be presented at the conference. Up to now there were a total of 26 deaths. Median overall survival time was 5.7 months (95% CI: 3.1, 8.7).

The current results of this slightly modified Azacytidine schedule demonstrate a feasible new therapy option for elderly or frail AML patients in an outpatient setting with moderate, mainly hematologic toxicity.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.