On June 06, 2016 Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS) reported the presentation of results from a study conducted by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) at the Medical College of Wisconsin evaluating the value of achieving complete remission prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (Press release, Sunesis, JUN 6, 2016, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2175348 [SID:1234513056]). The study was funded jointly by Sunesis and CIBMTR. The results are being presented today, Monday, June 6th from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Central Time at the Hematologic Malignancies – Leukemia, Myelodyplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant General Poster Session of the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting taking place in Chicago, Illinois.

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The poster presentation (Poster #25, Abstract 7033, Hall A), titled "Allogeneic transplantation for advanced acute myelogenous leukemia: The value of complete remission," will be available on the Sunesis website at www.sunesis.com, following the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) presentation.

For the study, researchers evaluated records from 4,382 patients with AML who had proceeded to allogeneic transplantation to understand comparative survival between those in complete remission following additional salvage therapy and those receiving prompt HCT without achieving complete remission or in first relapse following primary induction. Of the 4,382 patients, 1,440 had transplantation in primary induction failure (PIF), 1,256 were first relapse (Rel1), and 1,986 had achieved a second complete remission (CR2). Baseline characteristics were similar in the three disease status groups.

The results showed that more patients who had achieved CR2 had de novo AML, a longer duration of a first complete remission (CR1), and were more likely to report performance scores of 90 or 100. Adverse cytogenetics were more common in PIF patients and duration of CR1 was shorter in patients with Rel1 than in those with CR2. Mortality was higher for HCT in Rel1 compared to CR2 regardless of CR1 duration (RR 1.65, p < 0.0001). Similarly, mortality was higher for HCT in PIF compared to CR2 with CR1 duration < 6 (RR 1.26, p < 0.0001), 6-12 (RR 1.60, p < 0.0001) and > 12 months (RR 2.24, p < 0.0001). The probabilities of overall survival by disease status at 6 months are: CR2 73 (71-75)%; Rel1 53 (50-55)%; PIF 58 (56-61)%; and at 2 years, CR2 50 (48-52)%; REL1 27 (24-29)%; PIF 29 (27-32)%.

The data suggest that patients in remission fare better following HCT than those who receive transplant without having achieved CR, and that the ability to achieve remission is a powerful prognostic marker.

"These data point to the importance of achieving remission as an indicator of prognosis after HCT for patients with relapsed/refractory AML, and underscore the need for an effective salvage therapy," said Parvinder S. Hyare, Vice President, Global Oncology Operations and an author of the study. "We thank CIBMTR and their collaborators for this important research, and continue to work toward delivering new treatment options to high unmet need patients with AML around the world."