/ Updated April 11th, 2022

What is The Treatment For Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Patients After Relapse: Gilteritinib And FLT3 Inhibitors

Creator: Dr. Raoul Tibes
Published: 2020-03-31T22:53:06-04:00

Medical Source: Dr. Raoul Tibes
NYU Langone Health

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FLT3 Inhibitors And Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Relapse

Gilteritinib is a FLT3 Inhibitor that can fight genes powering leukemia cells
FLT3 Inhibitors are oral treatments given to AML patients whose disease has returned and have already gone through initial treatments
Checking for the FLT3 gene is routinely done for AML patients

For people whose acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has returned, Dr. Raoul Tibes, formerly the Director of the Clinical Leukemia Program at NYU Langone, tells SurvivorNet that new medications and more treatment options are emerging representing exciting progress in cancer research and care.

According to experts, patients with relapsed AML should be tested for mutations in a leukemia gene called FLT3, which powers leukemia cell growth. Luckily, Dr. Tibes says a new drug, Gilteritinib, which is a FLT3 Inhibitor, was approved for patients with relapsed and refractory AML that will fight that gene.

“Over the past few years and decades scientists were able to develop FLT3 Inhibitors, which means they take out and shut down the activity of this FLT3 gene which is constantly driving leukemia cell growth,” Dr. Tibes says.

With the approval of Gilteritinib, patients with AML relapses who have gone through previous treatments such as chemotherapy or stem cell transplant will have more options.

“We check for the FLT3 gene. It’s in all the guidelines and we do it routinely on all our patients,” Dr. Tibes says. “If we find this gene is mutated, now we have an oral drug available that we can give to our patients who we see have very good response rates and gives them another option.”

Medication Advancements For Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Patients

In addition to FLT3 Inhibitors, there has been a wave of new approved drugs targeted for AML patients which includes IDH1 and IDH2 Inhibitors. This medication helps red and white blood cells mature faster, and seeing as leukemia is caused by immature blood cells, this is a huge step in AML patient care. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this medication can have a unique side effect Differentiation Syndrome. For some patients, IDH Inhibitors can cause too many cells to grow at the same time, so physicians should monitor patients taking IDH Inhibitors closely.

Dr. Tibes encourages AML patients to consider combination drug therapy. In a separate interview with Survivornet, he explains Ventecolax, a BCL2 Inhibitor, which may stop the BCL2 protein from helping leukemia cells evade chemotherapy. Dr. Tibes suggests taking Ventecolax alongside other AML medication such as Decitabine or Azacitidine.

“If I am a leukemia patient today, or my brother which I rarely say I would ask for that combination,” Dr. Tibes says.

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Dr. Raoul Tibes is formerly the Director of the Clinical Leukemia Program at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center. Read More