Maintenance treatment with azacytidine for patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukaemia following MDS in complete remission after induction chemotherapy: Research paper

Abstract

24 months in 17% of the patients, and 18-30.5 months in the four patients with trisomy 8. CR duration was not associated with CDKN2B methylation status or karyotype. Median overall survival was 20 months. Hypermethylation of CDH1 was significantly associated with low CR rate, early relapse, and short overall survival (P = 0.003). 5-azacytidine treatment, at a dose of 60 mg/m2 was well tolerated. Grade III-IV thrombocytopenia and neutropenia occurred after 9.5 and 30% of the cycles, respectively, while haemoglobin levels increased during treatment. 5-azacytidine treatment is safe, feasible and may be of benefit in a subset of patients. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.