ASH 2014: Younger AML Patients Get Some Benefit from Sorafenib

The drug sorafenib was effective in treating young patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but not effective in terms of overall survival, according to a presentation at the 56th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Data from the SORAML trial was presented at the meeting, which enrolled 276 patients between 18 and 60 with AML. Patients were first put into remission with standard induction therapy. They also had consolidation therapy with high-dose cytarabine.

Following that, patients identified as intermediate and high risk underwent a stem cell transplant. Patients were also randomized to receive sorafenib as an addition to standard treatment.

At a median follow-up of three years, patients randomized to receive sorafenib had improvements in event-free survival (40 percent vs 22 percent) and relapse-free survival (56 percent vs 38 percent) compared to those who did not receive sorafenib.

"These data constitute the first randomized evidence that kinase inhibitors work in AML," said study presenter Christoph Rollig, MD, of University Hospital Dresden in Germany.

This despite the fact that there was no evident overall survival advantage indicated from the data for those who received sorafenib. Furthermore, those patients also experienced far more adverse events in terms of side effects compared to the placebo arm.

Source: ASH 2014