PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - CARLA MINOIA
AU  - NICOLA SGHERZA
AU  - GIACOMO LOSETO
AU  - GIUSEPPINA GRECO
AU  - CATERINA BUQUICCHIO
AU  - FRANCESCA MERCHIONNE
AU  - CHANDRAKALA TOLDO
AU  - IDA GALISE
AU  - ANGELA MELPIGNANO
AU  - GIUSEPPE TARANTINI
AU  - VINCENZO PAVONE
AU  - ATTILIO GUARINI
TI  - Azacitidine in the Front-line Treatment of Therapy-related Myeloid Neoplasms: A Multicenter Case Series
DP  - 2015 Jan 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 461--466
VI  - 35
IP  - 1
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/461.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/1/461.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2015 Jan 01; 35
AB  - Background/Aim: A continued increase in the incidence of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MN) is expected due to the improvement of chemotherapeutic treatments for solid and haematological malignancies. The use of 5-azacytidine (AZA) is emerging in these patients. We, therefore, analyzed the outcome of patients with t-MN ineligible for intensive chemotherapy treated in the front-line with AZA. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively collected clinical data from consecutive patients with t-MN treated in the front-line with AZA at five Haematology Centers. Response to therapy, overall survival (OS) and safety were considered. Results: The overall response rate was of 35.7% with a median OS of 9.6 months. Patients who were heavily pre-treated for their primary malignancy (more than 3 lines of chemotherapy) presented a significant inferior OS (4.9 months). The principal reported toxicity was haematological with severe infections occurring in a minority of patients. Fatigue was the most common extra-haematological toxicity. Conclusion: New aspects emerged on the management of t-MN. AZA may represent a reasonable choice for patients ineligible for intensive treatment, with the exception of heavily pre-treated patients who presented –anyway- a worse outcome.