hematological improvement

Hematological Improvement is a Favorable Response to Azacitidine in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemias and Myelodysplastic Syndromes

MYELOID TUMORS , , , ,

I.I. Kostroma1, S.V. Gritsaev1, E.V. Karyagina2, A.S. Nizamutdinova3, I.S. Martynkevich1, K.M. Abdulkadyrov1

1 Russian Scientific Research Institute of Hematology and Transfusiology under the Federal Medico-Biological Agency, 16 2-ya Sovetskaya str., Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 191024

2 Municipal Hospital No. 15, 4 Avangardnaya str., Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 198205

3 Alexandrovskaya Municipal Hospital No. 17, 4 pr-t Solidarnosti, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 193312

For correspondence: Ivan Ivanovich Kostroma, 16 2-ya Sovetskaya str., Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 191024; Tel.: +7(812)717-58-57; e-mail: obex@rambler.ru

For citation: Kostroma II, Gritsaev SV, Karyagina EV, et al. Hematological Improvement is a Favorable Response to Azacitidine in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemias and Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Clinical oncohematology. 2015;8(4):413–419 (In Russ).

DOI: 10.21320/2500-2139-2015-8-4-413-419

ABSTRACT

Aim. To evaluate types of response to azacitidine associated with improvement of overall survival (OS) rates of patients with acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Methods. A retrospective analyses of medical records of 14 AML patients and 13 MDS patients at the age of 39 to 84 treated with azacitidine at a dose of 75 mg/m2 subcutaneously for 7 subsequent days every 28 days was performed. The therapy effectiveness was evaluated according to modified 2006 IWG criteria. The OS was calculated beginning with the date of initiation of the azacitidine therapy.

Results. From 2 to 25 azacitidine cycles was performed. Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 6 patients (22.2 %) including 4 AML and 2 MDS patients. Bone marrow remission (mCR) was diagnosed in 1 MDS patient (3.7 %). Hematological improvement was obtained in 11 patients (40.7 %) including 5 AML and 6 MDS patients. The overall response was 66.7 % (18 to 27 patients). There was no correlation between the therapy effectiveness and patients’ age, disease type, duration of the previous period, baseline hemoglobin, leukocytes, and platelets levels, and dependence on transfusions of erythrocyte suspension and thromboconcentrate. The therapy was considered ineffective in 9 patients (33.3 %). Stabilization with retained requirements of blood component transfusion was observed in 4 AML and 3 MDS patients. 2 patients presented gradual increase of the blast cell count in the bone marrow. The follow-up period was 2–29 months. The median OS of all patients was 11.5 months. The median OS of patients with CR, mCR and hematological improvement was significantly greater than that in the group of patients with stable disease and progression: 15.9 versus 7.4 months, respectively (p = 0,010).

Conclusion. Reduction of transfusion requirement and/or stable improvement of peripheral blood levels due to azacitidine administration are associated with improved OS rates of AML and MDS patients.

Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, azacitidine, hematological improvement, overall survival.

Received: April 6, 2015

Accepted: October 22, 2015

Read in PDF (RUS)pdficon

REFERENCES

  1. Грицаев С.В. Миелодиспластические синдромы. В кн.: Гематология. Национальное руководство по гематологии. Под ред. О.А. Рукавицина. М: ГЭОТАР-Медиа, 2015. С. 300–33.
    [Gritsaev SV. Myelodysplastic syndromes. In: Rukavitsin OA, ed. Gematologiya. Natsional’noe rukovodstvo po gematologii. (Hematology. National guidelines in hematology.) Moscow: GEOTAR-Media Publ.; 2015. p. 300–33. (In Russ)]
  2. Грицаев С.В., Мартынкевич И.С., Абдулкадыров К.М. и др. Возрастные особенности кариотипа больных острым миелоидным лейкозом. Терапевтический архив. 2011;1:51–5.
    [Gritsaev SV, Martynkevich IS, Abdulkadyrov KM, et al. Age-related features of karyotype of patients with acute myeloid leukemias. Terapevticheskii arkhiv. 2011;1:51–5. (In Russ)]
  3. Грицаев С.В., Мартынкевич И.С., Абдулкадыров К.М. и др. Комплексный кариотип — маркер крайне неблагоприятного прогноза у больных острыми миелоидными лейкозами и развернутыми вариантами миелодиспластического синдрома старше 70 лет с высоким индексом коморбидности. Терапевтический архив. 2012;7:16–21.
    [Gritsaev SV, Martynkevich IS, Abdulkadyrov KM, et al. Complex karyotype is a marker for extremely unfavorable prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and marked myelodysplastic syndrome in patients over 70 years old with high co-morbidity index. Terapevticheskii arkhiv. 2012;7:16–21. (In Russ)]
  4. Грицаев С.В., Мартынкевич И.С., Запреева И.М. и др. Эффективность первого и повторного курсов индукционной терапии больных de novo острым миелоидным лейкозом. Бюллетень СО АМН 2013;33(1):67–75.
    [Gritsaev SV, Martynkevich IS, Zapreeva IM, et al. Efficacy of the first and repeated courses of induced therapy of patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia. Byulleten’ SO AMN. 2013;33(1):67–75. (In Russ)]
  5. Goldstone AH, Burnett AK, Wheatley K, et al. Attempts to improve treatment outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia in older patients: the results of the United Kingdom Medical Research Council AML11 trial. Blood 2001;98(5):1302–11. doi: 10.1182/blood.v98.5.1302.
  6. Burnett A, Wetzler M, Lowenberg B. Therapeutic advances in acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(5):487–94. doi: 10.1200/jco.2010.30.1820.
  7. Burnett AK, Milligan D, Prentice AG, et al. A comparison of low-dose cytarabine and hydroxyurea with or without all-trans retinoic acid for acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome in patients not considered fit for intensive treatment. Cancer. 2007;109(6):1114–24. doi: 10.1002/cncr.22496.
  8. Fenaux P, Mufti GJ, Hellstrom-Lindberg E, et al. Efficacy of azacitidine compared with that of conventional care regimens in the treatment of higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes: a randomised, open-label, phase III study. Lancet Oncol. 2009;10(3):223–32. doi: 10.1016/s1470-2045(09)70003-8.
  9. Fenaux P, Mufti GJ, Hellstrom-Lindberg E, et al. Azacitidine prolongs overall survival compared with conventional care regimens in elderly patients with low bone marrow blast count acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28(4):562–9. doi: 10.1200/jco.2009.23.8329.
  10. Quintas-Cardama A, Ravandi F, Liu-Dumlao T, et al. Epigenetic therapy is associated with similar survival compared with intensive chemotherapy in older patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2012;120(24):4840–5. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-06-436055.
  11. De Padua Silva L, de Lima M, Kantarjian H, et al. Feasibility of allo-SCT after hypomethylating therapy with decitabine for myelodysplastic syndrome. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2009;43(11):839–43. doi: 10.1038/bmt.2008.400.
  12. Field T, Perkins J, Huang Y, et al. 5-Azacitidine for myelodysplasia before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2010;45(2):255–60. doi: 10.1038/bmt.2009.134.
  13. Lubbert M, Bertz H, Muller MJ, Finke J. When azanucleoside treatment can be curative: nonintensive bridging strategy before allografting in older patients with myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2013;31(6):822–3. doi: 10.1200/jco.2012.46.4222.
  14. Cheson BD, Greenberg PL, Bennett JM, et al. Clinical application and proposal for modification of the International Working Group (IWG) response criteria in myelodysplasia. Blood. 2006;108(2):419–25. doi: 10.1182/blood-2005-10-4149.
  15. Vardiman JW, Thiele J, Arber DA, et al. The 2008 revision of the World health Organisation (WHO) classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia: rationale and important changes. Blood. 2008;114(5):937–51. doi: 10.1182/blood-2009-03-209262.
  16. Грицаев С.В., Мартынкевич И.С., Кострома И.И. Азацитидин при остром миелобластном лейкозе и миелодиспластическим синдроме. Гематология и трансфузиология. 2012;1:23–9.
    [Gritsaev SV, Martynkevich IS, Kostroma II. Azacitidine in acute myeloblast leukemia and myelodysplactic syndrome. Gematologiya i transfuziologiya. 2012;1:23–9. (In Russ)]
  17. Smith BD, Beach CL, Mahmoud D, et al. Survival and hospitalization among patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with azacitidine or decitabine in a large managed care population: a real-world, retrospective, claims-based, comparative analysis. Exp Hematol Oncol. 2014;3(1):1–6. doi: 10.1186/2162-3619-3-10.
  18. Gurion R, Vidal L, Gafter-Gvili A, et al. 5-Azacitidine prolongs overall survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Haematologica. 2010;95(2):303–10. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2009.010611.
  19. Saunthararajah Y. Key clinical observations after 5-azacytidine and decitabine treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes suggest practical solutions for better outcomes. Hematol Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2013:511–21. doi: 10.1182/asheducation-2013.1.511.
  20. Pleyer L, Burgstaller S, Girschikofsky M, et al. Azacitidine in 302 patients with WHO-defined acute myeloid leukemia: results from the Austrian Azacitidine Registry of the AGMT-study Group. Ann Hematol. 2014;93(11):1825–38. doi: 10.1007/s00277-014-2126-9.
  21. Ramos F, Thepot S, Pleyer L, et al. Azacitidine frontline therapy for unfit acute myeloid leukemia patients: clinical use and outcome prediction. Leuk Res. 2015;39(3):296–306. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2014.12.013.
  22. Abaigar M, Ramos F, Benito R, et al. Prognostic impact of the number of methylated genes in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemias treated with azacytidine. Ann Hematol. 2013;92(11):1543–52. doi: 10.1007/s00277-013-1799-9.
  23. Bejar R, Lord A, Stevenson K, et al. TET2 mutations predict response to hypomethylating agents in myelodysplastic syndrome patients. Blood. 2014;124(17):2705–12. doi: 10.1182/blood-2014-06-582809.
  24. Hwang KL, Song MK, Shin HJ, et al. Monosomal and complex karyotypes as prognostic parameters in patients with International Prognostic Scoring System higher risk myelodysplastic syndrome treated with azacitidine. Blood Res. 2014;49(4):234–40. doi: 10.5045/br.2014.49.4.234.
  25. Xicoy B, Jimenez MJ, Garcia O, et al. Results of treatment with azacitidine in patients aged ³75 years included in the Spanish Registry of Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Leuk Lymphoma. 2014;55(6):1300–3. doi: 10.3109/10428194.2013.834532.
  26. Bally C, Ades L, Renneville A, et al. Prognostic value of TP53 gene mutations in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia treated with azacitidine. Leuk Res. 2014;38(7):751–5. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2014.03.012.
  27. Calvo X, Nomdedeu M, Navarro A, et al. High levels of global DNA methylation are an independent adverse prognostic factor in a series of 90 patients with de novo myelodysplastic syndrome. Leuk Res. 2014;38(8):874–81. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2014.04.015.
  28. Poloni A, Maurizi G, Mattiucci D, et al. Azacitidine treatment in high risk myelodysplastic patients in complete haematological remission reverts mesenchymal stem cells to a normal phenotype. Blood. 2014;124(21): Abstract 1904.
  29. Hasserjian RP, Campigotto F, Klepeis V, et al. De novo acute myeloid leukemia with 20–29% blasts is less aggressive than acute myeloid leukemia with ³30% blasts in older adults: a Bone Marrow Pathology Group study. Am J Hematol. 2014;89(11):e193–9. doi: 10.1002/ajh.23808.
  30. Voso MT, Breccia M, Lunghi M, et al. Rapid loss of response after withdrawal of treatment with azacitidine: a case series in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Eur J Haematol. 2013;90(4):345–8. doi: 10.1111/ejh.12079.
  31. Nazha A, Sekeres MA, Garcia-Manero G, et al. Outcomes of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes who achieve stable disease after treatment with hypomethylating agents. Blood. 2014;124(21): Abstract 3273.