Decitabine Versus Hydroxyurea for Advanced Proliferative Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: Results of a Randomized Phase III Trial Within the EMSCO Network.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Hydroxyurea (HY) is a reference treatment of advanced myeloproliferative neoplasms. We conducted a randomized phase III trial comparing decitabine (DAC) and HY in advanced myeloproliferative chronic myelomonocytic leukemias (CMML).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Newly diagnosed myeloproliferative CMML patients with advanced disease were randomly assigned 1:1 to intravenous DAC (20 mg/m2/d days 1-5) or HY (1-4 g/d) in 28-day cycles. The primary end point was event-free survival (EFS), events being death and acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AML) transformation or progression.

RESULTS:

One-hundred seventy patients received DAC (n = 84) or HY (n = 86). Median age was 72 and 74 years, and median WBC count 32.5 × 109/L and 31.2 × 109/L in the DAC and HY arms, respectively. Thirty-three percent of DAC and 31% of HY patients had CMML-2. Patients received a median of five DAC and six HY cycles. With a median follow-up of 17.5 months, median EFS was 12.1 months in the DAC arm and 10.3 months in the HY arm (hazard ratio [HR], 0.83; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.16; P = .27). There was no significant interaction between treatment effect and blast or platelet count, anemia, CMML Prognostic Scoring System, Groupe Francophone des Myelodysplasies, or CMML Prognostic Scoring System-mol risk. Fifty-three (63%) DAC patients achieved a response compared with 30 (35%) HY patients (P = .0004). Median duration of response was similar in both arms (DAC, 16.3 months; HY, 17.4 months; P = .90). Median overall survival was 18.4 months in the DAC arm and 21.9 months in the HY arm (P = .67). Compared with HY, DAC significantly reduced the risk of CMML progression or transformation to acute myelomonocytic leukemia (cause-specific HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.94; P = .005) at the expense of death without progression or transformation (cause-specific HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.82 to 2.9; P = .04).

CONCLUSION:

Compared with HY, frontline treatment with DAC did not improve EFS in patients with advanced myeloproliferative CMML (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02214407).

• Authors: Raphael Itzykson, Valeria Santini, Sylvain Thepot, Lionel Ades, Cendrine Chaffaut, Aristoteles Giagounidis, Margot Morabito, Nathalie Droin, Michael Lübbert, Rosa Sapena, Stanislas Nimubona, Jean Goasguen, Eric Wattel, Gina Zini, Jose Miguel Torregrosa Diaz, Ulrich Germing, Anna Maria Pelizzari, Sophie Park, Nadja Jaekel, Georgia Metzgeroth, Francesco Onida, Robert Navarro, Andrea Patriarca, Aspasia Stamatoullas, Katharina Götze, Martin Puttrich, Sandra Mossuto, Eric Solary, Silke Gloaguen, Sylvie Chevret, Fatiha Chermat, Uwe Platzbecker, Pierre Fenaux
• Journal: Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (J Clin Oncol) Vol. 41 Issue 10 Pg. 1888-1897 (04 01 2023) ISSN: 1527-7755 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 36455187 (Publication Type: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial, Phase III, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Decitabine
• Hydroxyurea

Topics

• Humans
• Aged
• Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic (drug therapy, diagnosis)
• Decitabine
• Hydroxyurea (adverse effects)
• Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute (drug therapy)
• Proportional Hazards Models