New Options For Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Relapse: Combination Therapies with Gilteritinib
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/ Updated May 19th, 2022

New Options For Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Relapse: Combination Therapies with Gilteritinib

Medical Source: Dr. Raoul Tibes
NYU Langone Health
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FLT3 Inhibitor Advancements For Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

  • AML patients with the FLT3 mutation have a more challenging prognosis and are more prone to relapse.
  • New advancements in FLT3 Inhibitors give AML patients more treatment options
  • Gilteritinib is approved for the treatment of relapsed AML
  • Midostaurin is approved for newly diagnosed patients
  • Trials combining FLT3 Inhibitors and other drugs are happening now
Thankfully for a good number of us in the AML community, there are some newly approved drugs on the market to treat relapse. Dr. Raoul Tibes talks to SurvivorNet about how advancements in FLT3 Inhibitors are unlocking treatment options for patients.

Gilteritinib and Midostaurin are two currently approved FLT3 Inhibitors.

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“Currently there are many trials ongoing combining Gilteritinib and other FLT3 Inhibitors with other drugs and agents we have on hand in leukemia treatment, so I think this gives us another option for another FLT3 Inhibitor to give to our patients right away as well as do additional research and studies to even improve treatment further,” Dr. Tibes says.

FLT3 is a gene that powers leukemia cells growth, and FLT3 Inhibitors shut down that gene. Gilteritinib is new drug of FLT3 Inhibitors that was recently approved for patients with relapsed and refractory AML. In addition to Gilteritinib, Dr. Tibes says that other FLT3 Inhibitors are in clinical development, such as Midostaurin which is a drug approved for patients with newly-diagnosed AML.

“Every physician that treats leukemia is aware of testing patients for the FLT3 mutation, this abnormality in the gene FLT3, so hopefully in the next months or years we will see approval of other FLT3 Inhibitors so physicians have a choice of what to choose.”

Drug Advancements In Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Testing for the FLT3 gene is routinely done on AML patients, and the approval of oral drugs like Gilteritinib gives patients more options for those who have gone through previous treatments such as chemotherapy or a stem cell transplant.

In addition to Gilteritinib, Dr. Tibes spoke to SurvivorNet about the benefits of combination drug therapy for AML patients. Ventecolax, a BCL2 Inhibitor which inhibits the BCL2 protein from protecting leukemia cells, has seen longer response rates when combined with other drugs such as Decitabine or Azacitidine an important breakthrough in the treatment of AML. Typically, Decitabine or Azacitidine are taken by themselves, but Dr. Tibes says that combination drug therapy might become more commonplace.

"I think it will find a quick adoption in clinical practice pretty rapidly,” Dr. Tibes says.

 

 

 

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Dr. Raoul Tibes is formerly the Director of the Clinical Leukemia Program at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center. Read More

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