A Study of Cladribine, Low Dose Cytarabine, and Venetoclax in Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory or Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Summary

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a bone marrow cancer that is challenging to treat. It is the most common type of acute leukemia, particularly in adults. There are around 20,000 cases of acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed in the United States every year. Despite the recent significant progress in the understanding of acute myeloid leukemia leading to the development of new therapies, significant challenges remain. The initial treatment for acute myeloid leukemia involves using therapies aimed at reducing the disease burden in the bone marrow to the lowest possible level (a state known as disease remission). This is usually followed by consolidation treatment aimed at curing the disease. The initial treatment involves high intensity chemotherapy in younger adults who can tolerate these therapies and low intensity therapies for older adults or those with other medical conditions that prohibit them from receiving high intensity chemotherapy. The consolidation therapy involves either more chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant. In the recent years, a treatment regimen consisting of two drugs; Azacytidine and Venetoclax has become the standard of care for low intensity therapy intended for older adults. Despite significant improvement in outcomes of acute myeloid leukemia in older adults after the introduction of Azacytidine/Venetoclax, yet 40% of patients who receive this treatment will either be refractory to it or relapse after an initial remission. Those whose leukemia relapses after Azacytidine/Venetoclax treatment are left with very few treatment options and have a dismal prognosis. Based on previous laboratory studies, certain subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia tend to not respond as well to Azacytidine/Venetoclax therapy and have a better chance of responding to the treatment regimen the investigators are proposing in this study. The study treatment regimen consists of 3 drugs; Cladribine, low dose Cytarabine and Venetoclax. Demonstrating efficacy of the study regimen in treatment of relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, after prior Venetoclax therapy, will provide another treatment option for those with a relapsed/refractory disease who wish to continue receiving therapy.

Timeline

Start

2026-08-15

Primary completion

2029-02-01

Completion

2030-02-01

Publications

• Background Pei S, Shelton IT, Gillen AE, Stevens BM, Gasparetto M, Wang Y, Liu L, Liu J, Brunetti TM, Engel K, Staggs S, Showers W, Sheth AI, Amaya ML, Minhajuddin M, Winters A, Patel SB, Tolison H, Krug AE, Young TN, Schowinsky J, McMahon CM, Smith CA, Pollyea DA, Jordan CT. A Novel Type of Monocytic Leukemia Stem Cell Revealed by the Clinical Use of Venetoclax-Based Therapy. Cancer Discov. 2023 Sep 6;13(9):2032-2049. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-1297.
• Background Kadia TM, Reville PK, Wang X, Rausch CR, Borthakur G, Pemmaraju N, Daver NG, DiNardo CD, Sasaki K, Issa GC, Ohanian M, Montalban-Bravo G, Short NJ, Jain N, Ferrajoli A, Bhalla KN, Jabbour E, Takahashi K, Malla R, Quagliato K, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Popat UR, Andreeff M, Garcia-Manero G, Konopleva MY, Ravandi F, Kantarjian HM. Phase II Study of Venetoclax Added to Cladribine Plus Low-Dose Cytarabine Alternating With 5-Azacitidine in Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia. J Clin Oncol. 2022 Nov 20;40(33):3848-3857. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.02823. Epub 2022 Jun 15.
• Background Steinauer N, McCullough K, Al-Kali A, Alkhateeb HB, Begna KH, Mangaonkar AA, Saliba AN, Torghabeh M, Litzow MR, Hogan WJ, Shah M, Patnaik MM, Pardanani A, Badar T, Murthy H, Foran J, Yi CA, Tefferi A, Gangat N. Cladribine plus cytarabine plus venetoclax in acute myeloid leukemia relapsed or refractory to venetoclax plus hypomethylating agent. Haematologica. 2024 Aug 1;109(8):2706-2710. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2024.284962. No abstract available.

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Indications