A study to learn how well quizartinib with chemotherapy works and how safe it is in people with acute myeloid leukemia that is FLT3-ITD-positive: a plain language summary of the QuANTUM-First study

A study to learn how well quizartinib with chemotherapy works and how safe it is in people with acute myeloid leukemia that is FLT3-ITD-positive: a plain language summary of the QuANTUM-First study What is this summary about?This is a summary of the publication about the QuANTUM-First study, which was published in The Lancet in April 2023.The study included 539 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have a certain change (mutation) in a gene called FLT3.This mutation is called FLT3-ITD, and a cancer that has this mutation is called FLT3-ITD-positive AML.The researchers wanted to know if a drug called quizartinib given with other standard treatments could improve participants' outcomes compared with a placebo given with the same standard treatments. What are the key takeaways?For all participants, researchers in this study found that quizartinib reduced the risk of dying by 22% compared with the placebo.Participants who took quizartinib lived for a median of 31.9 months, and participants who took the placebo lived for a median of 15.1 months.After finishing the first part of treatment, a similar number of participants who took quizartinib and the placebo had no signs of cancer.Quizartinib reduced the risk of participants' cancer coming back after initially disappearing by 39% compared with the placebo.20% of participants who took quizartinib left the study due to medical problems, compared with 9% of participants who took the placebo.Participants who took quizartinib were more likely to have a type of abnormal electrical activity of the heart called QT prolongation that could potentially lead to an abnormal heart rhythm.What are the main conclusions reported by the researchers?These are the results from one study only.Other studies may provide new information or different results.In this study, participants who took quizartinib along with standard treatment lived longer than participants who took a placebo along with standard treatment.Quizartinib is now a treatment option for people with AML that has FLT3-ITD mutations.