Oral azacitidine prolongs survival of patients with AML in remission independent of MRD status

The multinational phase 3 QUAZAR AML-001 trial showed that maintenance with oral azacitidine significantly prolonged overall survival an relapse-free survival compared with placebo in patients aged ≥ 55 years with AML in first remission after intensive chemotherapy who were not candidates for transplantation. MRD status analysis showed that this effect was independent of baseline MRD status. Oral azacitidine extended the duration of MRD negativity by 6 months versus placebo, and resulted in higher rate of conversion from MRD positivity at baseline to MRD negativity during treatment (37% versus 19%). In the azacitidine arm, 24% of MRD responders achieved MRD negativity longer than 6 months after treatment initiation.