Has introduction of azacytidine in everyday clinical practice improved survival in late-stage Myelodysplastic syndrome? A single center experience.
Data derived from clinical trials consistently show a prolongation of overall survival of late-stage MDS patients with the introduction of azacytidine. Nevertheless, the applicability of the above results to real-world clinical settings may be questionable due to the strict design, the controlled medical environment, and the limited patient sample of explanatory studies. We retrospectively compared the outcome of two well-balanced groups of late-stage MDS patients. The first consisted of 46 patients treated with azacytidine (AZA cohort) and the second of 41 patients treated with other agents (non-AZA cohort). Patients in the AZA cohort displayed superior survival compared to the non-AZA ones. However, subgroup analysis revealed that azacytidine conferred a significant survival advantage only in patients with AML-MDS and those who attained a CR at any time after treatment initiation, while all other patients displayed comparable outcome with the non-AZA cohort. Larger series are needed to determine which patients benefit most from azacytidine therapy.
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Menelaos
M
Papoutselis
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Evdoxia
E
Douvali
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Vasileios
V
Papadopoulos
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Emmanouil
E
Spanoudakis
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Dimitrios
D
Margaritis
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Costas
C
Tsatalas
Department of Hematology, Democritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece. Electronic address: ikotsian@med.duth.gr.
Ioannis
I
Kotsianidis
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D011364:Professional Practice; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D001374:Azacitidine
AML; Azacytidine; MDS; Response