Biology Oriented Investigation of Treatment Strategies for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML): The AMLCG Approach

The outcome in patients with AML appears influenced by some therapeutic variables such as different intensity chemotherapy, growth factor priming, autologous or allogeneic transplantation. Even more than by treatment variables the outcome is determined by genetic and functional features related to the individual disease biology. Open questions are how far these prognostic factors apply to the different treatment options and whether the prognosis in specific subgroups can be improved by specific treatment. We here present a new study strategy using upfront randomization for major treatment alternatives, stratified for de novo versus secondary AML versus MDS, and for their biologic subgroups thus allowing unbiased analyses of subgroup-specific effects by specific treatments.