Abstract
The prospective randomized, placebo-controlled CALGB 10603/RATIFY trial (Alliance) demonstrated a statistically significant overall survival benefit from the addition of midostaurin to standard frontline chemotherapy in a genotypically-defined subgroup of 717 patients with FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The risk of death was reduced by 22% on the midostaurin-containing arm. In this post hoc analysis, we analyzed the cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) on this study and also evaluated the impact of 12 4-week cycles of maintenance therapy. CIR analyses treated relapses and AML deaths as events, deaths from other causes as competing risks, and survivors in remission were censored. CIR was improved on the midostaurin arm (HR = 0.71 (95% CI, 0.54–0.93); p = 0.01), both overall and within European LeukemiaNet 2017 risk classification subsets when post-transplant events were considered in the analysis as events. However, when transplantation was considered as a competing risk, there was overall no significant difference between the risks of relapse on the two randomized arms. Patients still in remission after consolidation with high-dose cytarabine entered the maintenance phase, continuing with either midostaurin or placebo. Analyses were inconclusive in quantifying the impact of the maintenance phase on the overall outcome. In summary, midostaurin reduces the CIR.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the patients who participated and their families, the clinical and laboratory research staff members of multiple international cooperative groups, CTEP of the NCI, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. We acknowledge Dr. Francesco Lo-Coco’s and Dr. Clara D. Bloomfield’s key roles in the design and completion of this study. CALGB is now part of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers U10CA180821, U10CA180882, U24CA198171 (to the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology), U10CA032291, U10CA041287, U10CA077651, U10CA077658, U10CA180791, U10CA180820 (ECOG-ACRIN), UG1CA233290, U10CA180836, U10CA180850, U10CA180863 (CCTG), U10CA180867, U10CA180888 (SWOG), and UG1CA233338 [https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org]. This study was also supported in part by funds from Novartis. Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier number: NCT00651261.
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RAL and RMS designed the study, performed research, collected, assembled, analyzed, and interpreted data, and wrote the manuscript; SJM, LJH, BLS, KL, SG, and IGathmann performed statistical analyses; CDB, CT, TWP, KD, GM, MTV, RBK, IGallinsky, AHW, JS, MAS, JMB, TdW, DN, FRA, BCM, MST, JK, RFS, AG, HS, GE, SA, and HD collected, assembled, analyzed, and interpreted data, and edited the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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RAL has acted as a consultant or advisor to Novartis, Amgen, Ariad/Takeda, Astellas, Celgene/BMS, CVS/Caremark, Epizyme, and MorphoSys, and has received clinical research support from Novartis, Astellas, Celgene, Cellectis, Daiichi Sankyo, Forty Seven, Rafael Pharmaceuticals, and royalties from UpToDate. SJM has acted as a consultant or advisor for Pfizer and Pique Therapeutics, and has another relationship with BeiGene. CT is the Chief Executive Officer and a co-owner of AgenDix, a company performing molecular diagnostics, and has acted as a consultant or advisor for Novartis and Astellas, and has received clinical research support from Bayer. KD has acted as a consultant or advisor for Astellas, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen, Novartis, and Roche and has received clinical research support from Astex, Celgene, and Novartis. GM, RBK, DN, and HS have acted as consultants or advisors for Novartis. AHW has acted as a consultant or advisor for Novartis, Astellas, Pfizer, MacroGenics, AbbVie, Genentech, Servier, Celgene, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, and Janssen, and is a member of the speakers bureau for AbbVie/Genentech and Novartis, and has received research funding from Novartis, Celgene, AbbVie, Servier, Astra Zeneca, and Amgen, and is a former employee of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and receives a fraction of its royalty stream related to venetoclax. JS has acted as a consultant or advisor for Pfizer, Daiichi Sankyo, AbbVie, Novartis, Astellas, and Roche and is a member of the speakers bureau for Novartis, Pfizer, Daiichi Sankyo, and AbbVie. MAS has acted as a consultant or advisor for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Daiichi Sankyo, Orsenix, AbbVie, Novartis, and Pfizer. TdW has acted as a consultant or advisor for Novartis, Celgene, Johnson & Johnson, and Incyte and has received clinical research support from Novartis, Celgene, and Johnson & Johnson. BCM has acted as a consultant or advisor for Celgene, Novartis, and Astellas and is currently employed by Roche/Genentech. MST has acted as a consultant or advisor for AbbVie, BioLineRx, Daiichi Sankyo, Orsenix, KAHR Medical, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Nohla, Delta Fly Pharma, Tetraphase, Oncolyze, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals, and has received clinical research funding from AbbVie, Cellerant Therapeutics, Orsenix, ADC Therapeutics, and BioSight, and has received royalties from UpToDate. JK has acted as a consultant or advisor for Amgen, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, and Pfizer. AG has received clinical research support from Novartis. RFS has acted as a consultant or advisor for Pfizer and Daiichi Sankyo, is a member of the speakers bureau for Novartis, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo, and has received clinical research funding from Pfizer, Daiichi Sankyo, PharmaMar, Astra Zeneca, and Roche. SA has acted as a consultant or advisor for Novartis and Daiichi Sankyo. IGathmann is an employee of Novartis. HD has acted as a consultant or advisor for AbbVie, Agios, Amgen, Astellas, Astex Pharmaceuticals, Celgene, Helsinn, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Oxford Biomedicals, and Roche, and has received institutional research support from Amgen, AROG Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sunesis. RMS has acted as a consultant or advisor for AbbVie, Actinium, and Agios, has received personal fees from Amgen, Argenx, AROG, Astellas, Astra Zeneca, BioLineRx, Celgene, Cornerstone, Daiichi Sankyo, Fujifilm, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, MacroGenics, Novartis, Ono/Theradex Oncology, Orsenix, Otsuka/Astex, Pfizer, Roche, Stemline Therapeutics, Takeda, and Trovagene, and has received institutional research support from AbbVie, Agios, AROG, and Novartis. The remaining authors declare no competing financial interests.
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Larson, R.A., Mandrekar, S.J., Huebner, L.J. et al. Midostaurin reduces relapse in FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia: the Alliance CALGB 10603/RATIFY trial. Leukemia 35, 2539–2551 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-021-01179-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-021-01179-4
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