What Is the Optimal Induction Therapy for Younger Fit Patients With AML?

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a complex clonal disorder. The disease is characterized by chromosomal and molecular abnormalities that propagate and expand the abnormal clone(s). The main goal of therapy is to achieve and ultimately maintain a complete remission. In the younger AML patient (less than 60 years of age), there has been a standardization of the initial therapy with the 3 + 7 regimen, consisting of an anthracycline and cytarabine combination. Recent intensification of the anthracycline has led to improved remission and survival outcomes in these patients. Prognosis and therapy in this disease is driven by cytogenetic studies and the additional molecular information that is gathered at the time of diagnosis. With the finding of potential targetable lesions within these molecular aberrancies, new treatments are emerging to deepen remissions and ultimately improve survival.