Real-world prescribing patterns in acute myeloid leukemia in the United States.

Abstract

e18524 Background: The effective treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a challenge in clinical practice. This analysis describes the patient characteristics and real-world use of AML treatments in the United States for patients on high- and low-intensity treatment. Methods: Data from the Adelphi AML Disease-Specific Programme, a real-world, cross-sectional survey conducted between February–May 2015, were analysed. A total of 61 hematologist/hem-oncologists, across academic, non-academic and office-based practice locations, provided data on 457 AML patients. Patient characteristics were derived from physician-completed patient record forms where each physician was asked to provide treatment details, including the treatment intensity, for each line of therapy. Results: A total of 91% (n = 415) of patients included in this analysis were previously untreated for AML. Patients had a mean age of 60 years and been diagnosed with AML for a median of 5.0 months. At first-line induction therapy, over half (53%; n = 241) of the patients were initiated on a high-intensity treatment, the most common regimen being cytarabine plus anthracycline (61%; n = 147). The remaining 47% (n = 216) of patients received a low-intensity induction therapy such as low dose cytarabine monotherapy (28%, n = 61), azacitidine monotherapy (25%, n = 54), or decitabine monotherapy (21%, n = 45). Over half (55%, n = 62) of patients suited to high intensity treatment went on to receive cytarabine monotherapy during the consolidation phase of their first-line treatment. Conclusions: According to treating physicians, the large majority of patients receive traditional, well-established therapies at first-line induction for AML. Whilst cytarabine combinations dominate the high-intensity treatment setting, the hypomethylating agents, azacitidine and decitabine, are frequently used for those more suited to low-intensity treatment.