Management of older or unfit patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is primarily a disease of older adults, for whom optimal treatment strategies remain controversial. Because of the concern for therapeutic resistance and, in particular, excessive toxicity or even treatment-related mortality, many older or medically unfit patients do not receive AML-directed therapy. Yet, evidence suggests that outcomes are improved if essentially all of these patients are offered AML therapy, ideally at a specialized cancer center. Medical fitness for tolerating intensive chemotherapy can be estimated relatively accurately with multiparameter assessment tools; this information should serve as basis for the assignment to intensive or non-intensive therapy. Until our accuracy in predicting the success of individual therapies improves, all patients should be considered for participation in a randomized controlled trial. Comparisons between individual trials will be facilitated once standardized, improved response criteria are developed, and standard treatment approaches have been defined against which novel therapies can be tested.