RT Journal Article T1 Phase III, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of CC-486 (Oral Azacitidine) in Patients With Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes. A1 Garcia-Manero, Guillermo A1 Santini, Valeria A1 Almeida, Antonio A1 Platzbecker, Uwe A1 Jonasova, Anna A1 Silverman, Lewis R A1 Falantes, Jose A1 Reda, Gianluigi A1 Buccisano, Francesco A1 Fenaux, Pierre A1 Buckstein, Rena A1 Diez Campelo, Maria A1 Larsen, Stephen A1 Valcarcel, David A1 Vyas, Paresh A1 Giai, Valentina A1 Olíva, Esther Natalie A1 Shortt, Jake A1 Niederwieser, Dietger A1 Mittelman, Moshe A1 Fianchi, Luana A1 La Torre, Ignazia A1 Zhong, Jianhua A1 Laille, Eric A1 Lopes de Menezes, Daniel A1 Skikne, Barry A1 Beach, C L A1 Giagounidis, Aristoteles AB Treatment options are limited for patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS). This phase III, placebo-controlled trial evaluated CC-486 (oral azacitidine), a hypomethylating agent, in patients with International Prognostic Scoring System LR-MDS and RBC transfusion-dependent anemia and thrombocytopenia. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to CC-486 300-mg or placebo for 21 days/28-day cycle. The primary end point was RBC transfusion independence (TI). Two hundred sixteen patients received CC-486 (n = 107) or placebo (n = 109). The median age was 74 years, median platelet count was 25 × 109/L, and absolute neutrophil count was 1.3 × 109/L. In the CC-486 and placebo arms, 31% and 11% of patients, respectively, achieved RBC-TI (P = .0002), with median durations of 11.1 and 5.0 months. Reductions of ≥ 4 RBC units were attained by 42.1% and 30.6% of patients, respectively, with median durations of 10.0 and 2.3 months, and more CC-486 patients had ≥ 1.5 g/dL hemoglobin increases from baseline (23.4% v 4.6%). Platelet hematologic improvement rate was higher with CC-486 (24.3% v 6.5%). Underpowered interim overall survival analysis showed no difference between CC-486 and placebo (median, 17.3 v 16.2 months; P = .96). Low-grade GI events were the most common adverse events in both arms. In the CC-486 and placebo arms, 90% and 73% of patients experienced a grade 3-4 adverse event. Overall death rate was similar between arms, but there was an imbalance in deaths during the first 56 days (CC-486, n = 16; placebo, n = 6), most related to infections; the median pretreatment absolute neutrophil count for the 16 CC-486 patients was 0.57 × 109/L. CC-486 significantly improved RBC-TI rate and induced durable bilineage improvements in patients with LR-MDS and high-risk disease features. More early deaths occurred in the CC-486 arm, most related to infections in patients with significant pretreatment neutropenia. Further evaluation of CC-486 in MDS is needed. YR 2021 FD 2021-03-25 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/17400 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/17400 LA en DS RISalud RD Jul 6, 2025