Incidence and predictors of anthracycline-related left ventricular dysfunction in acute myeloid leukemia.

INTRODUCTION: Anthracycline-related left ventricular dysfunction (ARLVD) is a concern in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing anthracyclinecontaining induction chemotherapy. However, the incidence of ARLVD in the modern era of routine pretreatment left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) echocardiographic assessment, as well as the clinical and genetic predictors of ARLVD are not well understood. METHODS: Consecutive adult patients with AML receiving anthracycline-containing induction chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 2014 to 2022 were studied. Inclusion criteria included availability of a pre and post chemotherapy echocardiogram to assess the LVEF, pre-treatment LVEF > 50 %, as well as comprehensive diagnostic next generation sequencing assessing for the presence of myeloid mutations. The primary endpoint was the incidence of ARLVD defined as LVEF < 50 % post-induction. RESULTS: Out of 419 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 34 (8%) patients developed ARLVD. Among the 122/419 patients who did not undergo planned allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), ARLVD was the deciding factor for ineligibility in 4 patients (1%). Baseline cardiovascular comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, smoking and coronary artery disease) and cumulative anthracycline dose were not predictive of post-induction ARLVD. However, the presence of a JAK2 mutation (but not other myeloid mutations) was associated with an increased risk of ARLVD in multivariable analysis (OR 8.34, 95 % CI 1.55-39.3, p = 0.007). DISCUSSION: In a group of AML patients with normal LVEF prior to anthracycline-containing induction chemotherapy, ARLVD was infrequent and did not commonly preclude post-remission allo-SCT consolidation. Genetic predictors of ARLVD require further investigation in a larger patient cohort.

Outcomes of antifungal prophylaxis for newly diagnosed AML patients treated with a hypomethylating agent and venetoclax.

Antifungal prophylaxis (AFP) is recommended for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients receiving the combination of venetoclax (VEN) and a hypomethylating agent (HMA), but the benefit of this practice is unclear. We identified 131 patients with newly diagnosed AML who received frontline VEN/HMA and evaluated the use of AFP and its association with invasive fungal infections (IFIs) and AML outcomes. Seventeen percent of our patients received AFP at any time. Overall incidence of any IFI ('possible,' 'probable,' or 'proven' infection, as defined by the European Mycoses Study Group) was 13%, and the incidence did not differ based on AFP use (p=.74). Median overall survival did not differ based on AFP use or lack thereof (8.1 vs. 12.5 months, respectively; p=.14). Our findings suggest that, at an institution where the incidence of fungal infections is low, there does not appear to be a role for AFP in newly diagnosed AML patients receiving VEN/HMA.

Prediction of life-threatening and disabling bleeding in patients with AML receiving intensive induction chemotherapy.

Bleeding in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving intensive induction chemotherapy is multifactorial and contributes to early death. We sought to define the incidence and risk factors of grade 4 bleeding to support strategies for risk mitigation. Bleeding events were retrospectively assessed between day-14 and day +60 of induction treatment according to the World Health Organization (WHO) bleeding assessment scale, which includes grade 4 bleeding as fatal, life-threatening, retinal with visual impairment, or involving the central nervous system. Predictors were considered pretreatment or prior to grade 4 bleeding. Using multivariable competing-risk regression analysis with grade 4 bleeding as the primary outcome, we identified risk factors in the development cohort (n = 341), which were tested in an independent cohort (n = 143). Grade 4 bleeding occurred in 5.9% and 9.8% of patients in the development and validation cohort, respectively. Risk factors that were independently associated with grade 4 bleeding included baseline platelet count ≤40 × 109/L compared with >40 × 109/L, and baseline international normalized ratio of prothrombin time (PT-INR) >1.5 or 1.3 > 1.5 compared with ≤1.3. These variables were allocated points, which allowed for stratification of patients with low- and high-risk for grade 4 bleeding. Cumulative incidence of grade 4 bleeding at day+60 was significantly higher among patients with high- vs low-risk (development: 31 ± 7% vs 2 ± 1%; P < .001; validation: 25 ± 9% vs 7 ± 2%; P = .008). In both cohorts, high bleeding risk was associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and proliferative disease. We developed and validated a simple risk model for grade 4 bleeding, which enables the development of rational risk mitigation strategies to improve early mortality of intensive induction treatment.