Dr. Uy on Therapy Selection in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Geoffrey Uy, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Division of Oncology, Section of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center, discusses therapy selection in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

It is becoming increasingly complex to select the appropriate therapy for patients with newly diagnosed AML, says Uy. Prior to selecting a therapy, Uy notes that it is important to risk stratify patients so that physicians have a better understanding of the patient’s cytogenetics and molecular profile. For patients with relapsed/refractory AML and older patients who may not be candidates for intensive chemotherapy, there are alternative regimens that can target specific mutations, says Uy.

Physicians are treating AML as a collection of diseases rather than one malignancy, adds Uy. Each of the FDA-approved agents has a place in the paradigm. Midostaurin (Rydapt) is approved for patients with FLT3-mutated AML, whereas CPX-351 (Vyxeos) was predominantly tested in older patients with secondary AML. Additionally, gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) is used for patients with good-risk AML.