Three Alternate Dosing Schedules of Azacitidine for MDS
Slides from the journal article and transcribed comments from a recent interview with Steven D Gore, MD (10/8/09) below
Presentation discussed in this issue:
Lyons RM et al. Hematologic response to three alternative dosing schedules of azacitidine in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. J Clin Oncol 2009;27(11):1850-6. Abstract
STEVEN D GORE, MD: This study examined potentially more convenient, alternate azacitidine treatment regimens that do not require weekend administration in patients with low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). These three regimens appear to be more or less comparable to each other and to the standard seven-day regimen for the palliation of cytopenias for low-risk disease.
This was a limited study, but there may be a slight difference between schedules, as patients with thrombocytopenia apparently were less likely to respond on the AZA 5-2-2 and AZA 5 treatment schedules than patients on the AZA 5-2-5 schedule. There was also a trend toward improved transfusion independence in patients on the AZA 5-2-5 schedule. The data suggest that these schedules, which exclude treatment on weekends, are reasonable for the amelioration of cytopenias in patients with low-risk MDS in the community.
Dr Gore is Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.