Amer Zeidan, MBBS, Yale University and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, describes the results of a Phase Ib study evaluating the combination of azacitidine and venetoclax in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (NCT02966782). The study included 46 heavily pre-treated patients with higher-risk MDS. Treatment with venetoclax plus azacitidine resulted in a range of adverse effects including infection and led to treatment discontinuation in 20% of patients. The overall response rate (ORR) was 38.6% and median overall survival (OS) was 12.6 months. This combination should be further evaluated in a larger randomized study. This interview took place at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in Atlanta, GA.
