Key clinical point: Low-intensity treatment with low-dose cytarabine (LD-AC) combined with cladribine offered therapeutic benefit with an acceptable safety profile in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.
Major finding: Rates of overall response and 56-day mortality were 54.0% and 20.5%, respectively. The median overall survival was 6.9 months (95% CI 4.9-9.6) and superior in patients who achieved an objective response (hazard ratio [HR] 0.04; P < .0001) or partial remission (HR 0.31; P = .0002) compared to nonresponders.
Study details: Findings are from a prospective analysis of 117 elderly patients (age, 60 years or older) with AML with poor performance status or a high comorbidity index treated with frontline LD-AC and cladribine.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine in Warsaw and Polish Adult Leukemia Group. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Budziszewska BK et al. Cancers. 2021 Aug 20. doi: 10.3390/cancers13164189 .