Could a targeted drug boost transplant success for tough blood cancers?
NCT ID NCT04708054
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Aug 12, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This clinical trial is testing whether adding the drug venetoclax to standard chemotherapy before a stem cell transplant can improve outcomes for people with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The study will enroll 324 participants and aims to see if the combination helps more patients stay cancer-free one year after transplant. The approach uses venetoclax to target cancer cells while the other drugs prepare the body for the transplant.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Venetoclax (a targeted cancer drug) combined with busulfan, cladribine, and fludarabine (chemotherapy drugs)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could lead to a more effective pre-transplant regimen that helps more people with high-risk AML or MDS stay cancer-free for longer.
- What could go wrong
- This is a mid-stage trial, so results are not yet proven. Adding venetoclax may increase side effects like low blood counts or infections, and it may not improve outcomes for everyone.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2/3
Runs two stages together: whether the treatment works, then large-scale confirmation.
- Participants
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About 324 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2021
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: Phase II 1. Age ≥ 18 and ≤ 70 years. English and non-English speaking patients are eligible. 2. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia who have previously received induction therapy and one of the following high-risk features: 1. ELN17 adverse risk prognostic group irrespective of remission status (see Appendix 2) 2. Measurable residual disease positive (MRD +) 3. Not in complete remission including complete remission without count recovery (Cri) and/or morphologic leukemia free state (MLFS), primary refractory, or relapsed disease. See Appendix 3 for details. 4. AML secondary to MDS or MPD 5. Therapy-related AML. 6. Not in complete remission after one course of induction therapy Or Patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or CMML and one of the following high-risk features: 1. Poor or Very poor cytogenetic risk group as per IPSS-R 2. Mutated P53 or Ras pathway genes (CBL, NRAS, KRAS, NF1, PTPN1) or DNMT 3a or ASXL1 or RUNX1 3. Maximum IPSS-R \>3.5 between diagnosis and the start of the preparative regimen. 4. ≥ 5% BM blasts at transplant 5. Therapy-related MDS 3. HLA-identical sibling or a minimum of 7/8 matched unrelated donor, or a haploidentical related donor available 4. Subject must voluntarily sign an informed consent 5. Female subjects of childbearing potential must have negative results for pregnancy test 6. Adequate hepatic and renal function per local laboratory reference range as follows: * Aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) \< 3.0X ULN * Bilirubin \<1.5 x ULN (unless bilirubin rise is due to Gilbert's syndrome or of non-hepatic origin) * Subject must have adequate renal function as demonstrated by a creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min; calculated by the Cockcroft Gault formula or measured by 24 hours urine collection. Phase III 1. Age ≥ 18 and ≤ 65 years. English and non-English speaking patients are eligible. 2. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia who have previously received induction therapy and one of the following high-risk features: 1. ELN22 adverse risk prognostic group irrespective of remission status (see Appendix 2. Measurable residual disease positive (MRD +) including MRD + any time after induction therapy. 3. Not in complete remission including complete remission without count recovery (Cri) and/or morphologic leukemia free state (MLFS), primary refractory, or relapsed disease. See Appendix 4 for details. 4. AML secondary to MDS or MPD 5. Therapy-related AML. 6. Not in complete remission after one course of induction therapy 7. Second or higher complete remission Or Patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and one of the following high-risk features: 1. Poor or Very poor cytogenetic risk group as per IPSS-R 2. Mutated P53 or Ras pathway genes (CBL, NRAS, KRAS, NF1, PTPN11) or ASXL1 or RUNX1 or moderate high, or high, or very high-risk group as per IPSS-M 3. Maximum IPSS-R \>3.5 between diagnosis and the start of the preparative regimen. 4. ≥ 5% BM blasts at transplant 5. Therapy-related MDS Or Patients with CMML 3. HLA-identical sibling or a minimum of 7/8 matched unrelated donor 4. Subject must voluntarily sign an informed consent 5. Female subjects of childbearing potential must have negative results for pregnancy test 6. Adequate hepatic and renal function per local laboratory reference range as follows: * Aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) \< 3.0X ULN * Bilirubin \<1.5 x ULN (unless bilirubin rise is due to Gilbert's syndrome or of non-hepatic origin) * Subject must have adequate renal function as demonstrated by a creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min; calculated by the Cockcroft Gault formula or measured by 24 hours urine collection. Exclusion criteria: 1. Subject is known to be positive for HIV. 2. Subject has cognitive impairments and/or is a prisoner. 3. Subject has acute promyelocytic leukemia 4. Subject has known active CNS involvement with AML. 5. Evidence of other clinically significant uncontrolled condition(s) including, but not limited to: 1. Uncontrolled and/or active systemic infection (viral, bacterial or fungal) 2. Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV) requiring treatment. Note: subjects with serologic evidence of prior vaccination to HBV (i.e. hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen negative-, anti-HBs antibody positive and anti-hepatitis B core (HBc) antibody negative) or positive anti-HBc antibody from intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) may participate. 6. Cardiac history of CHF requiring treatment or Ejection Fraction \< 50% or unstable angina; 7. Corrected DLCO \< 50% or FEV1 \<65%. 8. Administration or consumption of any of the following within 3 days prior to the first dose of study drug: * grapefruit or grapefruit products * Seville oranges (including marmalade containing Seville oranges) * star fruit 9. Patients with cognitive impairments and/or any serious unstable pre-existing medical condition or psychiatric disorder that can interfere with safety or with obtaining informed consent or compliance with study procedures. 10. Prior allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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M D Anderson Cancer Center
RECRUITINGHouston, Texas, 77030, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a Platelet-Boosting drug help control a rare bone marrow disorder?
- Can adding venetoclax make donor stem cell transplants safer for High-Risk blood cancers?
- Can an HDAC inhibitor wipe out residual leukemia cells?
- Can an experimental pill block a cancer-driving enzyme in hard-to-treat leukemia?
- Two-Drug combo targets leukemia that outsmarted its first treatment
- Tweaking donor cells may shield older transplant patients from a dangerous complication