On Location
Conference Coverage
UPDATES IN MALIGNANT HEMATOLOGY
his month , we continue our coverage of the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology ( ASCO ) Annual Meeting in Chicago . Here , we provide highlights from the conference , including moxetumomab pasudotox as an alternative to chemotherapy in hairy cell leukemia , chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies in myeloma and acute lymphocytic leukemia , and durable responses with acalabrutinib in Waldenström macroglobulinemia .
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Phase III BFORE Trial : Bosutinib Beats Imatinib for Frontline CML Treatment
Patients with previously untreated chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ) who received bosutinib were more likely than those who received imatinib to respond to treatment and sustain their responses at two years , according to updated results from the phase III BFORE trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting .
Jorge E . Cortes , MD , from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , presented one-year follow-up data at last year ’ s ASCO Annual Meeting , which provided the basis for bosutinib ’ s approval for the treatment of newly diagnosed , chronicphase ( CP ), Philadelphia chromosome – positive CML . At this year ’ s meeting , Dr . Cortes presented two-year follow-up data from BFORE , which “ confirmed bosutinib ’ s superior efficacy over imatinib .”
In the multicenter , open-label , phase III BFORE trial , researchers enrolled 536 adult patients with untreated BCR-ABL1 – positive , CP , Ph-positive or -negative CML .
Participants were randomized 1:1 to receive either bosutinib 400 mg once-daily or imatinib 400 mg once-daily ( n = 268 for each arm ). Median age in both groups was 53 years ( range = 18-94 years ), and 20 percent of each group had high-risk disease ( per Sokal Index score ).
After a median follow-up of 27 months ( range not provided ), the rates of major molecular response ( MMR ; primary endpoint ) were higher in the bosutinibtreated group at 12 months and were maintained through 18- and 24-month timepoints in the entire intent-to-treat ( ITT ) population ( see TABLE 1 ).
At two years , 61 percent of bosutinibtreated patients and 51 percent of imatinib treated patients remained in MMR , which translated to 37-percent higher odds of experiencing MMR at 24 months ( hazard ratio [ HR ] = 1.37 ; 95 % CI 1.11-1.68 ; p < 0.001 ). “ MMR responses occurred early , and the differences were maintained ,
20 ASH Clinical News July 2018 Bonus Mid-Year Edition