Declining Rates of Treatment-Related Mortality in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Given 'Intensive' Induction Regimens: A Report From the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDA)

Abstract 129 Background Recent emphasis has been placed on administration of induction regimens less intense than standard 3+7 for patients with newly diagnosed AML. A primary goal is to reduce the presumed average treatment related mortality (TRM) rate of 10% occurring within the first 28 days after start of 3+7 or higher intensity therapies; TRM rates have been > 30% in patients who are older and/or have poor performance status (PS]. (Walter et al. JCO 2012). This practice presupposes that TRM rates with higher intensity induction regimens are static, a notion seemingly difficult to reconcile with advances in supportive care (e.g. newer anti-aspergillosis drugs) that have sharply reduced rates of non-relapse mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (Gooley et al. NEJM 2010). Methods We thus addressed rates of TRM from 1991–2009 in 1,409 patients given 3+7 induction regimens on SWOG protocols (cytarabine dose 100 mg/m2 daily × 7) and 1,933 patients given induction regimens containing higher cytarabine doses (at least 1.0 g/m2 daily × 4–5 days) at MDA, variably combined with idarubicin, fludarabine or other agents. Multivariate analyses were used to account for confounding factors. Results TRM rates declined both in SWOG and at MDA. However this reduction must account for the declining ages of patient given 3+7 or more intense induction (p Conclusion There has been a reduction over time in TRM after “intensive” induction possibly due to better supportive care. Although various selection biases cannot be excluded, this decline is not due to younger age or better performance status and needs to be considered when choosing AML induction therapy. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.