An early study of patients (Phase I/II) with acute myeloid leukemia found that a new three-drug combination therapy greatly improved outcomes—both in patients with relapsed or refractory disease and as initial therapy. 

The new research involved adding quizartinib that targets fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) oncogene. Mutations of FLT3 are present in nearly a third of all AML tumors. The internal tandem duplication mutation of FLT3, in particular, is associated with poor prognosis in AML. So, it was hypothesized that targeting FLT3 could help in treating FLT3-mutated AML.

First author Musa Yilmaz MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has been talking with OncTimesTalk correspondent Peter Goodwin.