A new study has identified key factors that indicate when patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are unlikely to respond to venetoclax.
Researchers in Colorado, USA, found that monocytic disease was linked to poor outcomes, especially if they do not have a NPM1 gene mutation.
Patients with monocytic AML also had an increased risk of carrying other mutations linked to drug resistance, such as KRAS, according to the research.
The findings, reported in Blood Cancer Discovery, come from analysis of data from 678 patients.
Researcher Professor Daniel Pollyea, of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said it was a major step towards personalised medicine.
Professor Pollyea said: “Patients with monocytic acute myeloid leukaemia and no NPM1 mutation were nearly twice as likely to die from the disease. So, it’s not just about the gene mutations, it’s also about how developed or mature the cancer cells are when treatment begins.
“We learned that some cancer cells basically find a back door to evade the treatment. By identifying how and why that happens, we can begin designing therapies that shut down those escape routes.”
Source:
Lachowiez CA, Heiblig M, Aspas Requena G, Tavernier-Tardy E, Dai F, Ashango AB, Peters DT, Fang J, Kaempf A, Long N, Eide CA, Kurtz SE, Xie W, Agarwal A, Sahasrabudhe A, McMahon CM, Amaya ML, Meyers G, Gandhi A, Leonard J, Hayes-Lattin B, Maziarz RT, Traer E, Cook RJ, Swords R, Braun TP, Saultz JN, Eckel AM, Loken MR, Zeidner JF, Tyner JW, Pollyea DA. (2025) “Genetic and Phenotypic correlates of clinical outcomes with Venetoclax in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: The GEN-PHEN-VEN study.” Blood Cancer Discovery, 21 May 2025, doi: 10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-24-0256.
Link: https://aacrjournals.org/bloodcancerdiscov/article/doi/10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-24-0256
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