Sekeres Previews Potential Combination Strategies in HR-MDS

Welcome to OncLive On Air^®! I’m your host today, Caroline Seymour.

OncLive On Air^® is a podcast from OncLive^®, which provides oncology professionals with the resources and information they need to provide the best patient care. In both digital and print formats, OncLive® covers every angle of oncology practice, from new technology to treatment advances to important regulatory decisions.

In today’s episode, sponsored by Takeda, we had the pleasure of speaking with Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Health System, to discuss current clinical challenges and emerging treatments in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Potential combinations with pevonedistat, eprenetapopt (APR-246), venetoclax (Venclexta), or magrolimab, plus hypomethylating agents (HMAs) like azacitidine are being evaluated to determine whether they can improve upon the lackluster median survival for patients with higher-risk MDS (HR-MDS), explained Sekeres.

Sekeres added that although overall survival (OS) remains the gold-standard end point, trials are evolving to incorporate event-free survival (EFS) and other relevant end points for this patient population.

In our exclusive interview, Sekeres discussed the current unmet needs of patients with HR-MDS receiving HMAs, the potential utility of novel combinations in development, and the incorporation of other end points beyond OS in clinical trials.