Plain language summary of IMerge, a Phase 3 study of imetelstat versus placebo in people with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and anemia
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Plain Language SummaryWhat is this summary about?Myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS for short, are a group of blood cancers that usually cause anemia, a condition where the body does not make enough healthy red blood cells. People with anemia caused by MDS often feel tired, have physical weakness and shortness of breath, and may need to have red blood cell transfusions to feel better. They may also be eligible to take a medicine called an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent, or ESA, which may help the body to make more red blood cells. However, ESAs may not work or may stop working in many people and those people may need regular red blood cell transfusions to stay healthy, which is known as being transfusion dependent. A transfusion, which is a procedure where red blood cells from a healthy donor are put into a person’s bloodstream through a vein, may help the person feel better for a short period of time, but it is not a cure. Unfortunately, getting transfusions too often can cause side effects or other health problems.Imetelstat is a prescription medicine used to treat a group of MDS called low- to intermediate-1–risk MDS (or lower-risk MDS [LR-MDS]) in adults with anemia who need blood transfusions of 4 or more red blood cell units over 8 weeks and who have not responded to, have stopped responding to, or cannot be treated with ESAs.Imetelstat is given as an intravenous infusion (using a needle into the vein) usually every 4 weeks.New medicines, like imetelstat, are tested in clinical trials to understand how they work in people. The effects of imetelstat were evaluated in a Phase 3 study called IMerge. The United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency approved imetelstat for use based on the positive results of IMerge. This summary highlights the results from the IMerge study.What were the results? Among people given imetelstat, 40% went at least 8 weeks without needing red blood cell transfusions (this was the key measure of the study), compared with 15% of people given placebo.A total of 28% of people given imetelstat went at least 24 weeks without needing red blood cell transfusions, compared with 3% of people given placebo.The most common side effects experienced by people who received imetelstat were less neutrophils in the blood (neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that helps the body to fight infections) and less platelets in the blood (platelets are blood cells that help to stop bleeding).If a person had a lot fewer neutrophils or platelets, their imetelstat dose was delayed, reduced, or stopped. Some people received medicine or transfusions to help increase the number of neutrophils or platelets.What were the main conclusions reported by the researchers? In the IMerge study, imetelstat helped some people with transfusion-dependent anemia caused by LR-MDS to go at least 8 weeks or more without red blood cell transfusions.This is an abstract of the Plain Language Summary of Publication article.View the full Plain Language Summary PDF of this article to read the full-text
Source: Future Oncology
Author: Rami S Komrokji
Institution: Moffitt Cancer Center
Language: English
Subfield: Hematology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4415098651
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: