Daunorubicin Hydrochloride, Cytarabine and Oblimersen Sodium in Treating Patients With Previously Untreated Acute Myeloid Leukemia

May 29, 2026 updated by: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

A Phase III Study of Daunorubicin and Cytarabine +/- G3139 (Genasense, Oblimersen Sodium, NSC #683428, IND #58842), a BCL2 Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotide, in Previously Untreated Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) > / = 60 Years

This randomized phase III trial is studying daunorubicin, cytarabine, and oblimersen to see how well they work compared to daunorubicin and cytarabine in treating older patients with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as daunorubicin and cytarabine, work in different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Oblimersen may increase the effectiveness of daunorubicin and cytarabine by making cancer cells more sensitive to the drugs. It is not yet known whether daunorubicin and cytarabine are more effective with or without oblimersen in treating acute myeloid leukemia.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES: Primary

I. Compare outcome, in terms of overall survival, disease-free survival, event-free survival, and complete response rate, in older patients with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia treated with daunorubicin and cytarabine with or without oblimersen.

Secondary I. Determine the significance of expression of select Bcl-2 family member proteins known to be modulated by oblimersen (e.g., Bcl-2) or which potentially mediate resistance to oblimersen (e.g., Bcl-XL or Mcl-1) in predicting clinical outcomes in patients treated with these regimens.

II. Correlate clinical outcomes with serial changes in levels of mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2, its pro-apoptotic binding partner Bax, and other anti-apoptotic Bax-binding proteins (e.g., Bcl-XL or Mcl-1) in patients treated with these regimens.

III. Determine the effect of pre-treatment characteristics (e.g., morphology, cytogenetics, molecular features, expression of multidrug resistance molecules, functional assays of drug efflux, prior myelodysplastic syndromes, age, and white blood cells) on toxicity of these regimens and outcomes in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

Arm I:

Remission induction therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-10, cytarabine IV continuously on days 4-10, and daunorubicin IV on days 4-6.

Patients who achieve complete remission (CR) proceed to consolidation therapy. Patients who do not achieve CR receive a second course of induction therapy.

Second remission induction therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-8, cytarabine IV continuously on days 4-8, and daunorubicin IV on days 4-5.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy.

Consolidation therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-8 and high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours on days 4-8. Patients with a continuing CR receive a second course of consolidation therapy.

Arm II:

Remission induction therapy: Patients receive cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-7 and daunorubicin IV on days 1-3.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy. Patients who do not achieve CR receive a second course of induction therapy.

Second remission induction therapy: Patients receive cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-5 and daunorubicin IV on days 1 and 2.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy.

Consolidation therapy: Patients receive high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours on days 1-5. Patients with a continuing CR receive a second course of consolidation therapy.

In both arms, treatment continues in the absence of disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, failure to achieve CR after 2 courses of remission induction therapy, the presence of leukemic cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, leukemic regrowth, or relapse during consolidation therapy.

Patients are followed every 2 months for 2 years, every 3 months for 2 years, and then annually for 10 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 500 patients (250 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study within 4.2 years.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

500

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60606
        • Cancer and Leukemia Group B
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute at Ohio State University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

    • Histologically confirmed acute myeloid leukemia
    • No promyelocytic leukemia
    • History of antecedent myelodysplasia allowed provided that the patient received no prior cytotoxic therapy for myelodysplastic syndromes

  • PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

    • Biologic therapy

      • Prior growth factor and/or cytokine support allowed
      • No concurrent routine or prophylactic myeloid growth factors

    • Chemotherapy

      • No prior chemotherapy for leukemia or myelodysplasia except under the following conditions:
      • Emergency leukapheresis
      • Emergency treatment for hyperleukocytosis with hydroxyurea
      • No other concurrent chemotherapy

    • Endocrine therapy

      • No concurrent hormones except steroids for adrenal failure or hormones for non-disease-related conditions allowed (e.g., insulin for diabetes)

    • Radiotherapy

      • Prior cranial radiotherapy for CNS leukostasis (1 dose only) allowed
      • No concurrent palliative radiotherapy
    • Surgery
    • Not specified

    • Other

      • Concurrent enrollment on CALGB-8461, CALGB-9665, and CALGB-9760 allowed
      • No other concurrent investigational or commercial agents or therapies intended to treat the malignancy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm I

Remission induction therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-10, cytarabine IV continuously on days 4-10, and daunorubicin IV on days 4-6.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy. Patients who do not achieve CR receive a second course of induction therapy.

Second remission induction therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-8, cytarabine IV continuously on days 4-8, and daunorubicin IV on days 4-5.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy.

Consolidation therapy: Patients receive oblimersen IV continuously on days 1-8 and high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours on days 4-8. Patients with a continuing CR receive a second course of consolidation therapy.
Other: laboratory biomarker analysis
Correlative studies
Biological: oblimersen sodium
Given IV
Other Names:
  • augmerosen
  • G3139
  • G3139 bcl-2 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide
  • Genasense
Drug: cytarabine
Given IV
Other Names:
  • Cytosar-U
  • cytosine arabinoside
  • ARA-C
  • arabinofuranosylcytosine
  • arabinosylcytosine
Drug: daunorubicin hydrochloride
Given IV
Other Names:
  • Cerubidin
  • Cerubidine
  • RP-13057
  • daunomycin hydrochloride
  • daunorubicin
Experimental: Arm II

Remission induction therapy: Patients receive cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-7 and daunorubicin IV on days 1-3.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy. Patients who do not achieve CR receive a second course of induction therapy.

Second remission induction therapy: Patients receive cytarabine IV continuously on days 1-5 and daunorubicin IV on days 1 and 2.

Patients who achieve CR proceed to consolidation therapy.

Consolidation therapy: Patients receive high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours on days 1-5. Patients with a continuing CR receive a second course of consolidation therapy.
Other: laboratory biomarker analysis
Correlative studies
Drug: cytarabine
Given IV
Other Names:
  • Cytosar-U
  • cytosine arabinoside
  • ARA-C
  • arabinofuranosylcytosine
  • arabinosylcytosine
Drug: daunorubicin hydrochloride
Given IV
Other Names:
  • Cerubidin
  • Cerubidine
  • RP-13057
  • daunomycin hydrochloride
  • daunorubicin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Overall survival (OS)
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Up to 10 years
Complete response (CR) rate
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Up to 10 years
Median disease-free survival (DFS)
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Up to 10 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Guido Marcucci, Cancer and Leukemia Group B

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 10, 2004

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 10, 2004

First Posted (Estimated)

June 11, 2004

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 29, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NCI-2012-02805
  • U10CA031946 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • CALGB-10201
  • CDR367323

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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