Elihu H. Estey, MD

Steven Gore, MD

Mark J. Levis, MD, PhD

ELIHU H. ESTEY, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and Director of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Clinical Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, added that with these “robust” outcomes, future trial patients may “not be eager to wind up in the control arm,” but “those trials are necessary.”

Steven Gore, MD, Director of Hematologic Malignancies at Yale Medical School, commented that the results for the IDH inhibitors plus induction and consolidation chemotherapies were in some ways puzzling. “The complete remission rates were kind of disappointing, and yet the survival is spectacular, especially because the study censored for transplant,” he said. “I am not sure how to explain the middling response rates and superior survival rates. Any trial in which the treatment yields a 50% or so response rate does not typically show this kind of survival [75%–78% at 1 year].”

Mark J. Levis, MD, PhD, Program Leader for Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, told The ASCO Post that the question with isocitrate dehydrogenase inhibitors at this point is whether we should include them with induction therapy. “We can clearly get good responses with these agents alone. Why are we using them with 7+3? I’m not sure we know what to do yet.” ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Estey reported no conflicts of interest. Dr. Gore has received research support and consulting honoraria from Celgene. Dr. Levis is a consultant for Agios, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo, and Astellas.