For patients with high-risk myeloid cancers undergoing a donor stem cell transplant, adding the targeted drug venetoclax to a reduced-intensity drug regimen prior to transplant is safe and does not impair the ability of the donor cells to take root in recipients’ bodies, a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests. The study will be presented today at the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
The findings provide support for the use of venetoclax prior to transplant as a way to increase the chances of transplant success in this group of patients, said Jacqueline S. Garcia, MD, physician in the Adult Leukemia Program at Dana-Farber and first author of the study.
While a donor stem cell transplant can cure myeloid malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), patients whose tumor cells carry certain genetic mutations or chromosomal abnormalities have a high risk of relapsing after transplant. A variety of approaches to lowering the chance of relapse are under study. One involves using venetoclax, which prompts cancer cell death by blocking the BCL-2 protein, as part of the conditioning regimen patients receive in preparation for a donor stem cell transplant.
