Tag Archive for: AML Treatment and Clinical Trials

What is Targeted AML Therapy?

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 AML expert, Dr. Jessica Altman, defines targeted AML therapy and outlines available treatment options. Want to learn more? Download the Program Resource Guide here.

Dr. Jessica Altman is Director of the Acute Leukemia Program at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

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Transcript:

Patricia:

Can you talk a little bit about targeted therapy?

Dr. Altman:

Absolutely. So, targeted therapy – while meant to be specific, because a target is meant to be specific – targeted therapy has become a relatively broad characterization of additional treatments. We think about targeted therapy as the addition of agents that specifically inhibit or target an abnormality associated with the leukemia. The most prominent targeted therapies right now involve specific mutations seen in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. 

For instance, about 30% of adults who have newly diagnosed AML will have a mutation in something called FLT3, or F-L-T-3. There is now an approved drug that is combined with standard intensive induction chemotherapy that improves the
response rate and overall survival in adults with AML with a FLT3 mutation. In addition, there is now an approved agent for relapsed and refractory FLT3 mutating leukemia. 

Patricia:

What about molecular testing? What can you say about that?

Dr. Altman:

Molecular testing is part of the workup for an adult or a child when they’re newly diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia. And molecular abnormalities look for specific known mutations that occur in Acute Myeloid Leukemia cells. 

For instance, that FLT3 that I mentioned. In addition, the IDH mutation. Looking for those mutations has always been important in understanding the prognosis, but it’s now especially important because some specific mutations, we have additional therapies that we can give as part of initial treatment or for relapsed disease that target those mutations. So, not only do they have a prognostic role, but they have a treatment impact as well.

Treating Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

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This podcast was originally published on The Bloodline With LLS on May 21, 2019, here.

 

There have been few advances in treatment for AML in 40 years. Why is acute myeloid leukemia (AML) so difficult to treat? What is the current treatment for AML? How is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) striving to change that? How are targeted therapies being used for patients? Is immediate treatment for patients necessary for all AML patients? How does a patient’s ethnic background play a role in finding a matching bone marrow donor?

Join Alicia and Lizette as they address these questions and more with Dr. Martha Arellano from Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. On this episode, Dr. Arellano addresses current treatment and treatment advances for AML, including stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy. She also explains the goal and impact of the Beat AML Master Trial, a groundbreaking collaborative and targeted clinical trial for patients with AML. Listen in as Dr. Arellano shares her excitement about the future of treatment for AML.

AML Treatment Options: What’s Available?

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Dr. Jessica Altman reviews currently available treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, and clinical trials.

Dr. Jessica Altman is Director of the Acute Leukemia Program at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. More about Dr. Altman here.

See More From The Fact or Fiction? AML Series

Related Resources

 

Fact or Fiction? AML Treatment and Side Effects Resource Guide

  

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Can AML Be Cured?

Transcript:

Patricia:                         

Dr. Altman, let’s talk a little bit right now about treatments that are currently available for AML. What kinds of things might patients want to familiarize themselves with?

Dr. Jessica Altman:    

So, we are at a point in AML therapy where there’s not just one choice of treatment.

There are a number of choices that depend on patient characteristics, disease characteristics, and patient goals. So, there’s a lot that the physician with their patient and family members take into account and consider when they’re coming up with a therapeutic strategy.

Patricia:          

So, give us a couple of examples. Chemotherapy is one way to treat AML, correct?

Dr. Jessica Altman:    

Correct. So, the treatments all stem from a chemotherapy backbone. And there are more intensive chemotherapy regimens that usually involve a long, in-patient hospitalization and less intensive chemotherapy regimens. Those chemotherapy regimens can sometimes be combined with targeted therapy based on the genomic structure or the mutations present in leukemia cells. 

Patricia:          

Stem cell transplant is also an option as well?

Dr. Jessica Altman:                

Stem cell transplant is an option that is utilized ideally after the leukemia is in remission as a way of maintaining disease control.

And for some patients, that is the best approach for a curative option, and some patients’ leukemia does not require a stem cell transplant.

Patricia:          

Clinical trials available as well for AML, doctor?

Dr. Jessica Altman:    

So, we feel very strongly that the best treatment strategy for most patients is a well-designed, appropriate clinical trial for all phases of AML therapy. It’s because of research and clinical trials over the last number of years that we have had advances and more approvals for the treatments of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

How is an AML Treatment Approach Determined?

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 AML expert, Dr. Jessica Altman, discusses the factors she considers when making treatment decisions for patients. Want to learn more? Download the Program Resource Guide here.

Dr. Jessica Altman is Director of the Acute Leukemia Program at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

See More From The Fact or Fiction? AML Series

Related Resources

 Why Should Patients Be Hopeful About AML Treatment Options?  Office Visit Planner  Can AML Be Cured?

Transcript:

Patricia:     

So, when you’re talking with your patients, what kind of things are you considering when determining how to best treat AML?

Dr. Jessica Altman:    

So, that’s a great question. This is something that is the basis for the entire conversation that I have with my patients and their family members. 

I consider patient goals and patient fitness, other medical conditions, and a lot about the biology of the leukemia. If someone has an acute leukemia that is expected to be highly sensitive to intensive chemotherapy, then that is something that we want to think about. Versus if the patient has a disease that is not expected to be as sensitive to intensive chemotherapy, we frequently like to consider other alternatives in that space.

Patricia:     

So, in terms of options, as a patient what kind of things should I be thinking about when I’m working with you as my doctor about what the best treatment for me might be going forward?

Dr. Jessica Altman:    

So, I think the goal of the initial meetings and the initial consultation between a patient and their healthcare provider is to explore those things. We take a detailed history, understanding patients’ other medical issues. In addition to that, the social history and patients’ goals are very important, as things are not always a yes or no.  

They’re not dichotomous choices. And to be able to understand a patient’s goals, and for the healthcare provider to be able to explain what the intent of treatment is helps both parties come to the right decision for that individual patient.