FLT3 inhibitors – their role in AML

Ali Bazarbachi, MD, from the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon explains his research into the use of FLT3 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). FLT3 inhibitors are tyrosine kinase inhibitors and in the first-line treatment of AML combined with chemotherapy, they have shown a survival advantage. Further, they can be used in relapsed AML in transplanted and non-transplanted patients. The most promosing setting for FLT3 inhibitors is in maintenance therapy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation to avoid relapse. Prof Bazarbachi further discusses the implications of these results and the ongoing clinical trials in this area. According to Prof Bazarbachi, the use of FLT3 inhibitors together with chemotherapy, will become standard of care.
Recorded at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) in Valencia, Spain.