Venetoclax Plus Hypomethylating Agents for Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Is Safe and Manageable in the Outpatient Setting

JN and CP equally contributed Introduction In the setting of clinical trials Venetoclax (VEN) combined with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) has shown fair activity in R/R AML and impressive results in treatment-naïve elderly AML patients. However, no clear guidelines are available on real-life management, especially in the outpatient setting. This study involving R/R AML patients treated with VEN combined with HMAs aims to amelioratate physicians’ knowledge about the administration of these regimens. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study involving AML patients treated with Venetoclax combined with HMAs. Data were collected in accordance with GCP and Helsinky declaration. Adverse events (AEs) were graded according to CTCAE v4.03. Survival is estimated with Kaplan-Meyer method. Results Thirty-one R/R AML patients have been treated with VEN plus HMAs from March 2018 to March 2020 and completed at least 1 therapy course (range 1-9, median 2, IQR 1.0 - 5.0) (Table 1: patients' characteristics). Seventeen out of 31 (54,8 %) had received intensive chemotherapy as induction therapy. Twenty-two patients (71 %) had already received HMAs therapy, of which 14/31 (45,2 %) as first and only previous line of therapy. VEN was combined with azacitidine in 13/31 (41,9%) and with decitabine in 18/31 patients (58.1 %). The majority of patients (22/31, 70,9%) received the first cycle as out-patients, special focus of our analysis. For clinical reasons, only 9 out of 31 (29,1 %) patients were hospitalized and were used as control. In the outpatients setting, VEN dose escalation was managed with at least a weekly laboratory and clinical monitoring and the drug was often increased more slowly to carefully prevent tumor lysis syndrome or other complications. Specifically, there has been a trend toward a ramp-up schedule different from that indicated in clinical trials in the outpatient setting in comparison with hospitalized patients (77,2 % vs 33,3 %). In term of safety, no cases of tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and only 2 AEs were documented during ramp-up phase, both experienced by hospitalized patients. Seventeen AEs were documented during cycle 1, affecting more frequently hospitalized patients (77,9% vs 31,8 %). In the outpatient setting, the early 30-days and 60-days mortalities were 4,5 % (1/22) and 13,6 % (3/22), respectively, comparable to percentages documented in hospitalized subgroup (0% and 11,1%). Overall, with a median follow-up of 138 days (IQR 69 - 285),