Quizartinib plus chemotherapy in newly diagnosed patients with FLT3-internal-tandem-duplication-positive acute myeloid leukaemia (QuANTUM-First): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial

Patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) positive for internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations of FLT3 have poor outcomes. Quizartinib, an oral, highly potent, selective, type 2 FLT3 inhibitor, plus chemotherapy showed antitumour activity with an acceptable safety profile in patients with FLT3-ITD-positive newly diagnosed AML. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of quizartinib versus placebo on overall survival in patients with FLT3-ITD-positive newly diagnosed AML aged 18-75 years.We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial comparing quizartinib and placebo in combination with chemotherapy in induction and consolidation, followed by quizartinib or placebo single-agent continuation, in patients with FLT3-ITD-positive newly diagnosed AML at 193 hospitals and clinics in 26 countries in Europe; North America; and Asia, Australia, and South America. Patients aged 18-75 years were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to the quizartinib group or the placebo group by an independent biostatistician through an interactive web and voice response system, stratified by region, age, and white blood cell count at diagnosis. Patients, investigators, funders, and contract research organisations were masked to treatments assigned. Induction therapy comprised a standard 7 + 3 induction regimen of cytarabine 100 mg/mper day (or 200 mg/mper day allowed if institutional or local standard) by continuous intravenous infusion from day 1 to day 7 and anthracycline (daunorubicin 60 mg/mper day or idarubicin 12 mg/mper day) by intravenous infusion on days 1, 2, and 3, then quizartinib 40 mg orally or placebo once per day, starting on day 8, for 14 days. Patients with complete remission or complete remission with incomplete neutrophil or platelet recovery received standard consolidation with high-dose cytarabine plus quizartinib (40 mg per day orally) or placebo, allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT), or both as consolidation therapy, followed by continuation of single-agent quizartinib or placebo for up to 3 years. The primary outcome was overall survival, defined as time from randomisation until death from any cause and assessed in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was evaluated in all patients who received at least one dose of quizartinib or placebo. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02668653).Between Sept 27, 2016, and Aug 14, 2019, 3468 patients with AML were screened and 539 patients (294 [55%] male patients and 245 [45%] female patients) with FLT3-ITD-positive AML were included and randomly assigned to the quizartinib group (n=268) or placebo group (n=271). 148 (55%) of 268 patients in the quizartinib group and 168 (62%) of 271 patients in the placebo group discontinued the study, primarily because of death (133 [90%] of 148 in the quizartinib group vs 158 [94%] of 168 in the placebo group) or withdrawal of consent (13 [9%] of 148 in the quizartinib group vs 9 [5%] of 168 in the placebo group). Median age was 56 years (range 20-75, IQR 46·0-65·0). At a median follow-up of 39·2 months (IQR 31·9-45·8), median overall survival was 31·9 months (95% CI 21·0-not estimable) for quizartinib versus 15·1 months (13·2-26·2) for placebo (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·62-0·98, p=0·032). Similar proportions of patients in the quizartinib and placebo groups had at least one adverse event (264 [100%] of 265 in the quizartinib group and 265 [99%] of 268 in the placebo group) and one grade 3 or higher adverse event (244 [92%] of 265 in the quizartinib group and 240 [90%] of 268 in the placebo group). The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were febrile neutropenia, hypokalaemia, and pneumonia in both groups and neutropenia in the quizartinib group.The addition of quizartinib to standard chemotherapy with or without allo-HCT, followed by continuation monotherapy for up to 3 years, resulted in improved overall survival in adults aged 18-75 years with FLT3-ITD-positive newly diagnosed AML. Based on the results from the QuANTUM-First trial, quizartinib provides a new, effective, and generally well tolerated treatment option for adult patients with FLT3-ITD-positive newly diagnosed AML.Daiichi Sankyo

The Medalist trial : results of a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of luspatercept to treat anemia in patients with very low-, low-, or intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with ring sideroblasts (RS) who require red blood cell (RBC) transfusions

Abstract Introduction: MDS is associated with an erythroid maturation defect, characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis leading to anemia and RBC transfusion dependence. Treatment of anemia in lower-risk MDS remains an unmet medical need. Luspatercept is a first-in-class erythroid maturation agent which binds to select TGFβ superfamily ligands to reduce aberrant Smad2/3 signaling and enhance late-stage erythropoiesis (Suragani RN, et al. Nat Med. 2014;20:408-14). Preliminary clinical studies have shown promising activity in MDS (Platzbecker U, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2017;10:1338-47). We report the results of a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of luspatercept in patients with anemia due to Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R)-defined Very low-, Low-, or Intermediate-risk MDS with RS who require RBC transfusions. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02631070. Methods: Eligible patients were aged ≥ 18 years; had IPSS-R-defined Very low-, Low-, or Intermediate-risk MDS with RS according to the WHO 2016 criteria; were refractory, intolerant, or ineligible to receive erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs); and required RBC transfusions. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive either luspatercept, at a starting dose level of 1.0 mg/kg with titration up to 1.75 mg/kg, if needed, or placebo, subcutaneously every 3 weeks for ≥ 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was RBC transfusion independence (RBC-TI) for ≥ 8 weeks between week 1 and week 24. A key secondary endpoint was RBC-TI for ≥ 12 weeks between week 1 and 24. Achievement of modified hematologic improvement-erythroid (mHI-E) response using IWG 2006 criteria was also assessed. Results: † A total of 229 patients were randomized and treated. Median age was 71 years (range 26-95), median time from diagnosis was 41.8 months (range 3-421), and 62.9% were male. Overall, patient baseline characteristics were balanced between the treatment groups. Patients received a median of 5 RBC units (range 1-20) transfused over 8 weeks during the 16 weeks prior to treatment (43.2% of patients had ≥ 6 RBC units/8 weeks, 27.9% had ≥ 4 to 500 IU/L, respectively. A total of 218 (95.2%) patients had previously received ESAs. Overall, 206 (90.0%) patients had an SF3B1 mutation. Of 153 patients receiving luspatercept, 58 (37.9%) achieved the primary endpoint of RBC-TI for ≥ 8 weeks compared with 10 of 76 patients (13.2%) receiving placebo (odds ratio [OR] 5.1, P < 0.0001). Of those receiving luspatercept, 43 of 153 (28.1%) achieved the key secondary endpoint of RBC-TI for ≥ 12 weeks (weeks 1-24) compared with 6 of 76 (7.9%) receiving placebo (OR 5.1, P = 0.0002). Patients receiving luspatercept were more likely to achieve an mHI-E response, defined as a reduction in transfusion of ≥ 4 RBC units/8 weeks or a mean hemoglobin increase of ≥ 1.5 g/dL/8 weeks in the absence of transfusions, compared with patients receiving placebo (52.9% vs 11.8% during weeks 1-24; P < 0.0001). The safety profile of luspatercept was consistent with that reported in the phase 2 PACE-MDS study (Platzbecker U, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2017;10:1338-47). Conclusions: Treatment with luspatercept resulted in a significantly reduced transfusion burden compared with placebo in patients with anemia due to IPSS-R-defined Very low-, Low-, or Intermediate-risk MDS with RS, who require RBC transfusions, and was generally well tolerated. P.F. and U.P. contributed equally to this abstract as lead co-authors. R.S.K. and A.F.L. contributed equally to this abstract as senior co-authors. † As of May 8, 2018, cutoff date. Disclosures Fenaux: Otsuka: Honoraria, Research Funding; Jazz: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding. Platzbecker:Celgene: Research Funding. Mufti:Celgene: Research Funding. Buckstein:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Santini:Otsuka: Consultancy; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Díez-Campelo:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Finelli:Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Ilhan:Alexion: Speakers Bureau; BMS: Speakers Bureau; Roche: Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Speakers Bureau. Sekeres:Opsona: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Opsona: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Falantes:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria. Giai:Novartis: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy. Selleslag:Kiadis Pharma: Other: Financial support for study-related issues. Jurcic:Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc: Research Funding; Daiichi-Sankyo: Research Funding; Astellas: Research Funding; Incyte: Consultancy; AbbVie: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kura Oncology: Research Funding; Genetech: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Forma Therapeutics: Research Funding; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Syros Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Germing:Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding. Götze:Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Travel aid ASH 2017; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; JAZZ Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Quesnel:Celyad: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Astellas: Honoraria; Sunesis: Honoraria. Beyne-Rauzy:Novartis: Research Funding. Cluzeau:Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Sanofi: Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Jazz Pharma: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Menarini: Consultancy; Pfizer: Speakers Bureau. Voso:Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Zeidan:Otsuka: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Agios: Consultancy, Honoraria. Laadem:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Benzohra:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Zhang:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Rampersad:Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Linde:AbbVie: Equity Ownership; Abbott Laboratories: Equity Ownership; Fibrogen: Equity Ownership; Acceleron Pharma: Employment, Equity Ownership. Sherman:Acceleron Pharma: Employment, Equity Ownership. Komrokji:Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding. List:Celgene: Research Funding