Venetoclax added to CLAG regimen might improve the outcome of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

Background: We aim to analyze the efficacy and safety of Venetoclax (Ven) added to cladribine + cytarabine + granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) ± idarubicin or mitoxantrone (CLAG ± Ida/Mito) regimen as a salvage treatment of relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (RR-AML).

Methods: A single-center, retrospective, cohort study was performed. Patients with RR-AML, being treated with CLAG ± Ida/Mito with versus without Ven, were retrospectively studied.

Homoharringtonine sensitized resistant acute myeloid leukemia cells to venetoclax-induced apoptosis.

Venetoclax (VEN), a B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) selective inhibitor, is widely used for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with promising results. However, the anti-leukemic effect of VEN in relapsed/refractory (R/R)- AML requires improvement. In this study, we observed that combining homoharringtonine (HHT) with VEN plus azacitidine resulted in a significantly higher response and better survival than VA alone in patients with R/R-AML.

Homoharringtonine may help improve the outcomes of venetoclax and azacitidine in AML1-ETO positive acute myeloid leukemia.

Purpose: T(8;21)(q22;q22.1)/AML1-ETO positive acute myeloid leukemia (AE-AML) is sensitive to conventional chemotherapy with a favorable prognosis. However, recent small case reports suggest the limited effectiveness of venetoclax (VEN) and hypomethylating agents (HMA) in treating AE-AML.