Impact of Post-Remission Maintenance Therapy (MT) on Outcomes in Patients (pts) with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in Real-World Practice

INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic advances have led to improved survival outcomes in patients (pts) with AML. Consolidation therapy helps to eradicate residual leukemia and prevent relapse. However, relapse remains a major concern and contributes to suboptimal outcomes in pts with newly diagnosed AML who attain remission following induction chemotherapy (IC). Strategies for maintenance therapy (MT) attempt to prolong AML remission and extend survival. MT approaches have included chemotherapy, hypomethylating agents (HMAs), and targeted small-molecule drugs. Overall, the evidence in favor of MT is limited. The oral formulation of azacitidine (Oral-AZA), an HMA, is the first and only MT to demonstrate significant overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) benefits in pts with a broad range of AML subtypes (Wei, NEJM 2020), leading to regulatory approvals in the United States (2020), Canada (2021), and European Union (2021). This study aimed to determine in real-world practice whether the use of MT after IC, with or without consolidation, conferred any clinical advantage before Oral-AZA became available.