Impact of performance status and transfusion dependency on outcome of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia treated with azacitidine (PIAZA study).

OBJECTIVE: Azacitidine (Vidaza® ) is the standard treatment for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) not eligible for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In the noninterventional study PIAZA, we evaluated the effectiveness and safety of azacitidine treatment in 149 patients with higher-risk MDS, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in routine clinical practice.

METHOD: Patients were treated according to physician's discretion. Besides evaluation of safety and effectiveness, impact of covariates on progression-free survival (PFS) was assessed.

RESULTS: Median age of patients was 75 years. 61.1% of patients were diagnosed with MDS, 31.5% with AML and 7.4% with CMML. Patients were treated with azacitidine for a median of seven cycles. Median PFS was 10.9 months. Median OS was 14.1 months. Two-year survival rate was 28.9%. 45.9% of patients showed CR or PR. Stable and progressive disease were observed in 37.2% and 8% of patients, respectively. Transfusion independence was reported in 64 of 89 patients. Eastern cooperative oncology group (ECOG) performance status (PS) and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion before azacitidine therapy were identified as predictive factors for PFS.

CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we estimated the duration of PFS in a real-world setting and identified ECOG PS and RBC transfusion as predictive factors for PFS. The safety of azacitidine showed a similar profile as demonstrated in the pivotal clinical trials.