Dr. Stone on Combinations With Venetoclax in AML

Richard M. Stone, MD, director of the Adult Leukemia Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses combinations with venetoclax (Venclexta) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

One of the most important developments in AML has been the approval of venetoclax in combination with azacitidine, decitabine, or low-dose cytarabine for elderly adult patients with newly diagnosed AML who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy. The regimen was approved in November 2018, and now researchers in the field is beginning to decipher which mutations confer response and lack thereof, says Stone.

Additionally, the field is evaluating other potential combinations with venetoclax, such as with targeted agents like gilteritinib (Xospata) and ivosidenib (Tibsovo). Moreover, venetoclax is being tested in combination with intensive chemotherapy. Supplemental research regarding biomarkers of response and mechanisms of resistance to frontline therapy will augment this research evaluating venetoclax as an adjunct to therapy, concludes Stone.