Imetelstat improves patient-reported outcomes and quality of life in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: results from the phase III IMerge study

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions for anemia associated with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes/neoplasms (LR-MDS) often contribute to reduced quality of life (QOL). Thus, reduction in RBC transfusion dependency (TD) is a primary therapeutic goal. Imetelstat is a first-in-class, competitive telomerase inhibitor approved to treat certain adult patients with LRMDS with RBC-TD anemia who have not responded to, have lost response to, or are ineligible for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. In the phase III IMerge study (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02598661), treatment with imetelstat resulted in clinically meaningful, statistically significant increases in the primary endpoint of ≥8-week RBC transfusion independence (TI) versus placebo. Because patients with LR-MDS experience detrimental effects on numerous facets of QOL (physical, emotional, social, and functional), these exploratory analyses assessed patient-reported outcomes using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue, Quality of Life in Myelodysplasia Scale, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Anemia questionnaires as part of the phase III IMerge study. Nominal P values were reported. Fewer imetelstat-treated patients experienced deterioration in fatigue levels and more imetelstat-treated patients experienced sustained improvement in fatigue levels and QOL versus placebo. In the imetelstat group, 8-week, 24-week, and 1-year RBC-TI responders had sustained improvements in predefined significance thresholds versus non-responders for fatigue (70%, 73%, and 88%, respectively, vs. 37%, 41%, and 44%, respectively; P