Combination Therapies of Hypomethylating Agents for Elderly Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are encumbered with poor long-term outcomes due to patient and disease characteristics. Hypomethylating agents (HMAs), acting as DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors, have been established as a new treatment option, but they have been associated with relatively low response rates (15%–20% complete remission) when administered separately for treating elderly with AML. However, appropriate combination therapies with decitabine or azacitidine have flourished. The results of randomized trials of various combinations of HMAs with chemotherapy, histone deacetylase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, immunomodulatory agents, kinase inhibitors, or bexarotene are summarized.