Oral Azacitidine and Venetoclax for the Treatment of Newly Diagnosed, Relapsed, or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia
This phase I trial tests the safety, side effects and best dose of oral azacitidine when given with venetoclax in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that is newly diagnosed, that has come back after a period of improvement (relapsed), or that has not responded to previous treatment (refractory). Azacitidine is in a class of medications called demethylation agents. It works by helping the bone marrow to produce normal blood cells and by killing abnormal cells. Venetoclax is in a class of medications called B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) inhibitors. It may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking Bcl-2, a protein needed for cancer cell survival. Venetoclax with conventional azacitidine is the standard of care for newly diagnosed AML patients who are unable to receive intensive induction chemotherapy. However, the standard of care treatment of venetoclax with azacitidine requires seven consecutive daily subcutaneous or intravenous doses of azacitidine each month. It is thought that the relative difficulty of this treatment, and its effect on a patient’s quality of life, may lead to the patient stopping azacitidine injections early, which may lessen the success of the treatment. Therefore, the use of an oral treatment may be helpful, as it might lead to fewer visits to the infusion center, better quality of life, and make the treatment more effective by allowing patients to stay on the treatment drug longer.