Monthly azacitidine injections reduce relapse in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

Key clinical point: The financial burden of monthly azacitidine must be weighed against the benefits of treatment, but patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome have few options.

Major finding: A total of 31 patients with measurable residual disease at baseline were relapse-free and alive after 6 months of monthly injection treatment with azacitidine.

Study details: The data come from a review of the pros and cons of the RELAZA-2, a German-multicentered, open-label, single-arm, phase II study of azacitidine in 53 adult patients who developed measurable residual disease after treatment for acute myeloid leukemia or advanced myelodysplastic syndrome; 29 after chemotherapy and 24 after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT).

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Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Source: Pan J et al. Front Oncol. 2020 Oct 22. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.576924.