Safety profile and impact on survival of tyrosine kinase inhibitors versus conventional therapy in relapse or refractory FLT3 positive acute myeloid leukemia patients.

Marconi, Giovanni; De Polo, Stefano; Martinelli, Giovanni; Nanni, Jacopo; Bertamini, Luca; Talami, Annalisa; Olivi, Matteo; Ragaini, Simone; Abbenante, Maria Chiara; Sartor, Chiara; Ottaviani, Emanuela; Bochicchio, Maria Teresa; Parisi, Sarah; Fontana, Maria Chiara; Cristiano, Gianluca; Raffini, Maddalena; Baldazzi, Carmen; Testoni, Nicoletta; Bonifazi, Francesca; Paolini, Stefania; Curti, Antonio; Cavo, Michele; Papayannidis, Cristina

Relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a poor prognosis, and new therapies are a major clinical need. When mutated, FLT3 drives neoplastic cell proliferation. New drugs (i.e., tyrosine kinase inhibitors, TKIs) showed effectiveness in FLT3-AML and promise to change disease history and outcome. We evaluated the benefit conferred by TKIs in terms of survival, burden of complications and surrogate endpoint of quality of life in a retrospective cohort of 49 FLT3 positive, R/R AML patients. Patients who received TKIs were compared to those treated with conventional chemotherapy. Treatment with TKIs conferred a better OS and wea associated with a lower burden and severity of adverse events. Importantly, patients who received TKIs showed reduced time of hospitalization. In conclusion, treatment with TKI in R/R FLT3-AML was related to a better survival, less and milder AEs, and shorter hospitalization.