Therapy for older AML patients: the role of novel agents and allogeneic stem cell transplant.

The development of novel therapeutics in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is driven by the need to improve efficacy and reduce toxicity. Clearly, elderly patients with AML represent a highly heterogeneous group, based on a wide array of disease- and patient-specific characteristics. Therefore, novel treatment strategies aimed at overcoming specific biologic modifiers of disease resistance will be paramount to successful therapy for some, whereas in others, the ability to administer a low-toxicity regimen on a chronic basis to achieve disease control may prove beneficial, perhaps even in the absence of complete responses. In addition, identifying genomic and proteomic expression patterns using an individual's unique neoplastic clone will likely optimize the ability to predict responders to novel therapies and identify new and relevant therapeutic targets. The development of reduced-intensity preparative regimens for allogeneic transplants has allowed physicians and patients to explore the option of long-term disease control. The risk-benefit ratio for this procedure will depend on the disease state, patient performance status, and comorbidities. However, current results underscore that age alone should no longer be a contraindication for allogeneic transplant with curative intent in these patients, and long-term disease control with good quality of life is possible and can be expected. Future trials combining the novel therapies described in this article and novel transplant technologies should allow more elderly patients with AML or myelodysplastic syndromes to experience long and productive lives.