title: Survival and hospitalization among patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated with azacitidine or decitabine in a large managed care population: a real-world, retrospective, claims-based, comparative analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined patient outcomes using real world data for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients initiating treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective, administrative claims-based, comparative analysis was developed to study outcomes for AML patients initiating treatment with decitabine or azacitidine between January 2006 and June 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment with azacitidine was associated with a longer median overall survival (10.1 versus 6.9 mos., p = 0.007) and a lower risk of hospitalization (HR 0.787, p = 0.02) compared to treatment with decitabine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis of the outcomes of real-world treatment of AML patients with demethylating agents suggests that azacitidine may result in clinically superior outcomes than decitabine.
authors.affiliation: Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: B Douglas
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Hematology/Oncology Clinical Research and Development, Celgene, Summit, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Beach
authors.affiliation: Global Pricing and Market Access, Celgene, Summit, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.affiliation: Global Pricing and Market Access, Celgene, Summit, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Health Economic and Outcomes Research, Optum, Eden Prairie, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Henry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Henk