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VIEW ALL NEWSAzacitidine ups survival in higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Compared with conventional care, treatment with azacitidine can significantly improve overall survival in patients with higher risk myelodysplastic syndromes, according to a report in the February 18th online issue of The Lancet Oncology.
The findings stem from a study of 358 patients who were randomly assigned to receive azacitidine or conventional care regimens, which included best supportive care, low-dose cytarabine, or intensive chemotherapy.
During a median follow-up period of 21.1 months, azacitidine-treated patients had significantly higher median overall survival than did controls: 24.5 vs. 15.0 months (p = 0.0001), lead author Dr. Pierre Fenaux, from Hopital Avicenne in Bobigny, France, and colleagues note.
At latest follow-up, 82 of 179 patients in the azacitidine group had died compared with 113 of 179 in the conventional care group, the report indicates.
The 2-year actuarial survival rate was 50.8% in the azacitidine group versus 26.2% in the conventional care group (p < 0.0001).
The most common serious side effects for all treatments were peripheral cytopenias, the researchers note.
"The results of this study," the authors conclude, "indicate that azacitidine significantly lengthens overall survival and changes the natural history of myelodysplastic syndrome in patients with higher risk disease."
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