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Hypomethylating Agents as a Therapy for AML

  • Acute Myeloid Leukemias (H Erba, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is predominantly a disease of older adults associated with poor long-term outcomes with available therapies. Used as single agents, hypomethylating agents (HMAs) induce only 15 to 25% complete remissions, but current data suggest that median OS observed after HMAs is comparable to that observed after more intensive therapies. Whether long-term cure may be obtained in some patients treated with HMAs is unknown. Combinations of HMAs to novel agents are now extensively investigated and attractive response rates have been reported when combining HMAs to different drug classes. The absence of reliable predictive biomarkers of efficacy of HMAs in AML and the uncertainties regarding their most relevant mechanisms of action hinder the rational design of the combinations to be tested in priority, usually in untreated older AML patients.

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  1. Department of Hematology, Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, AP-HP, Institut Universitaire d’Hématologie, EA3518, University Paris Diderot, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, 70510, Paris, France

    Claude Gardin

  2. Department of Hematology, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Institut Universitaire d’Hématologie, EA3518, University Paris Diderot, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, 70510, Paris, France

    Hervé Dombret

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Claude Gardin reports personal fees from Celegene and Sunesis.

Hervé Dombret reports grants and personal fees from Roche/Genentech, grants and personal fees from Amgen, personal fees from Pfizer, grants and personal fees from Ariad, personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Celgene, grants and personal fees from Jazz Pharma., personal fees from Agios, personal fees from Sunesis, personal fees from Ambit (Daiichi Sankyo), personal fees from Karyopharm, grants and personal fees from Kite Pharma., personal fees from Menarini, personal fees from Astellas, personal fees from Janssen, personal fees from Servier, and personal fees from Seattle Genetics.

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Gardin, C., Dombret, H. Hypomethylating Agents as a Therapy for AML. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 12, 1–10 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11899-017-0363-4

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