This phase II trial studies how well the combination of decitabine, venetoclax, and ponatinib work for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukemia or myeloid blast phase or accelerated phase chronic myelogenous leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy such as decitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Venetoclax may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking Bcl-2, a protein needed for cancer cell survival. Ponatinib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving decitabine, venetoclax, and ponatinib may help to control Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute myeloid leukemia or myeloid blast phase or accelerated phase chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Study sponsor and potential other locations can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov for NCT04188405.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
I. To determine the efficacy of the regimen, as defined by the rate of complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi).
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine efficacy outcomes, including rate of minimal residual disease negativity by flow cytometry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for BCR-ABL1 transcripts, median relapse-free survival, and median overall survival.
II. To determine the proportion of patients proceeding to allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT).
III. To preliminarily determine the safety of the combination regimen.
EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate the effect of single-agent ponatinib on apoptotic proteins and Bcl-2 dependency.
II. To correlate apoptotic protein expression and Bcl-2 dependency on response and resistance to the combination regimen.
OUTLINE:
Patients receive ponatinib orally (PO) daily on days 1-28 of each cycle, venetoclax PO daily on days 1-21 of each cycle, and decitabine intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes on days 1-5 of each cycle. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 24 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, patients undergo bone marrow aspiration, blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample collection, and echocardiography (ECHO) or multigated acquisition scan (MUGA) on study.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days then every 6 months thereafter.
Lead OrganizationM D Anderson Cancer Center
Principal InvestigatorNicholas Short