Dr. Mary L Savoie

Combination Therapies

for Acute Myeloid Leukemia

This phase II MyeloMATCH treatment trial compares cytarabine with daunorubicin versus cytarabine with daunorubicin and venetoclax versus venetoclax with azacitidine for the treatment of younger patients with intermediate risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Cytarabine is a drug that inhibits some of the enzymes needed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication and repair and can slow or stop the growth of cancer cells. Daunorubicin is a drug that blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair, and it may kill cancer 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. Azacitidine is a drug that interacts with DNA to activate tumor-suppressing genes, resulting in an anti-tumor effect. Adding venetoclax to cytarabine and daunorubicin, and adding venetoclax to azacitidine, may work better than the usual treatment of cytarabine with daunorubicin alone. To decide if they are better, the study doctors are looking to see if venetoclax increases the rate of elimination of AML in participants by 20% or more compared to the usual approach.