Donna Kelley, 81, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in July 2019.
After consulting with her oncologist, James Foran, MD, at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, Kelley decided to join the Beat AML® Master Clinical Trial.
“He (said) that what you need to know is that if you do not choose to do anything, then you probably have a four- to six-month life expectancy,” Kelley recalled. “He went on to explain what the clinical study involved, (and) that it was an intake of a pill every day.”
Foran explained that Kelley was enrolled in a substudy of Beat AML where she received a targeted therapy without any chemotherapy. During her three-month follow-up after starting the trial, Foran gave her some incredible news - she was in complete remission.
“I’ve never told that to a person before, that they’ve gone into remission after three months of an oral therapy like this without giving chemotherapy for AML,” said Foran.
Kelley was amazed by the news.
“I feel like this is quite miraculous,” she said.
About the Beat AML® Master Clinical Trial
The Beat AML® Master Clinical Trial is the first collaborative precision medicine clinical trial in a blood cancer. Launched in 2016 and focused on newly diagnosed patients aged 60 or older, the trial uses advanced genomic technology to match patients to the most promising targeted treatment based on their unique genetic mutations. The trial tests multiple therapies in multiple study arms simultaneously under a “Master Trial” protocol that not only has the power to bring new therapies to acute myeloid leukemia patients faster, but also has the potential to stand as a model for future clinical trials. The trial has already generated strong results, showing superior survival rates and better quality of life when genomic analysis is used to match patients to targeted therapies. For more information, visit www.lls.org/bringing-precisio...