Maintenance therapies in acute myeloid leukemia: the renaissance of an old therapeutic concept

Purpose of review Disease relapse remains the major cause of death in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is driven by the persistence of leukemic cells following induction chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT). Maintenance therapies to extend the duration of remission and to improve survival have been proposed for several years with mixed results but have experienced a renaissance recently. Recent findings The oral hypomethylating agent CC-486 has been the first agent to show an overall survival (OS) benefit compared with observation in AML patients in remission following intensive chemotherapy who are not proceeding to allo-HCT. In the realm of maintenance therapy following allo-HCT, the FLT3 inhibitor sorafenib has yielded superior results in terms of OS and relapse-free survival in randomized trials compared with observation. Several open questions remain regarding patient selection, timing, duration and safety of maintenance therapies. Various targeted agents are currently tested in clinical trials and could potentially enable an even more individualized therapeutic approach. Maintenance therapies following intensive chemotherapy or allo-HCT offer a new therapeutic paradigm for an increasing number of AML patients and have been shown to result in an OS benefit in selected patients.