Dr. Tabbara on the Expansion of Treatment Options for AML

Imad Tabbara, MD, professor of medicine, director of the Blood & Bone Marrow Transplant Program, and Fellowship Training Program, GW Cancer Center, discusses the expansion of treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Ten years ago, treatment for AML was limited to 7+3 induction chemotherapy which consists of 7 days of cytarabine followed by 3 days of an anthracycline, which is usually daunorubicin, says Tabbara.

Now, it is understood that AML is a heterogeneous disease that requires options to treat the individual needs of patients, Tabbara explains.

Today, many treatment options are available including targeted therapies forpatients with FLT3-mutated, CD33-positive, and IDH1/2-mutated disease. Although these mutations were not unknown, Tabbara says, targeted therapy development was lacking.

Tabbara is confident the options will only expand further as the field continues to grow.