OnCo
trialsTrialPositive

VIALE-A

The trial that gave older AML patients a real treatment: adding venetoclax to azacitidine doubled remission rates and extended survival.

Median OS 14.7 vs 9.6 months (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.52-0.85); composite CR 66.4% vs 28.3%; CR 36.7% vs 17.9%. Benefit across IDH1/2 (OS HR 0.35) and NPM1 subgroups; less in FLT3-ITD and TP53. Long-term follow-up (2022): 24-month OS 37.5% vs 16.7%. NEJM 2020. Became the global standard for unfit AML and the backbone for triplet trials.

Setting
Newly diagnosed AML unfit for intensive chemotherapy: venetoclax + azacitidine vs placebo + azacitidine
Phase
Phase 3
Sponsor
AbbVie / Genentech
Registry
Headline result
OS 14.7 vs 9.6 months, HR 0.66; CR 36.7% vs 17.9%.
Reported
2020
Enrolled
431
Replication
VIALE-C (venetoclax + low-dose cytarabine) showed a consistent but initially non-significant OS trend; large real-world series (US, Europe, Asia) reproduce ~60% composite CR and 11-15 month median OS.

Outcomes

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In plain words
What these results mean for people, not percentages
431 people took part
Overall survival (median)primarysurvival endpoint
  • Median 14.7 vs 9.6 months with Venetoclax + azacitidine compared with Placebo + azacitidine; about 5.1 months longer for half the group.
  • A median is a midpoint: half the people did better than this and half did worse, so it is not a prediction for any one person.
  • Put another way, the treated group had about 34 percent lower chance of the event at any given time (hazard ratio 0.66, likely range 0.52 to 0.85).
  • Overall survival counts deaths from any cause, so it is the most direct measure of whether a treatment helps people live longer.
Complete remissionprimarysurrogate endpoint
  • 36.7 vs 17.9 out of 100 had no sign of cancer on scans or tests with Venetoclax + azacitidine compared with Placebo + azacitidine; 18.8 more per 100.
  • Roughly one extra person helped for every 5 treated. That is a rough figure taken from the two percentages, not a guarantee for any one person.
  • This is a surrogate endpoint: it measures the cancer being controlled or absent on scans and tests, which often, but not always, translates into living longer.
Composite CR (CR + CRi)surrogate endpoint
  • 66.4 vs 28.3 out of 100 reached this endpoint with Venetoclax + azacitidine compared with Placebo + azacitidine; 38.1 more per 100.
  • Roughly one extra person helped for every 3 treated. That is a rough figure taken from the two percentages, not a guarantee for any one person.
  • This is a surrogate endpoint: it measures the cancer being controlled or absent on scans and tests, which often, but not always, translates into living longer.
Be careful
  • These results apply to the people the trial enrolled: Newly diagnosed AML unfit for intensive chemotherapy: venetoclax + azacitidine vs placebo + azacitidine. People in a different situation may not see the same effect.

Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.

431 participants enrolled.

Overall survival (median)primary
HR 0.66 (0.52–0.85) · p <0.001
Venetoclax + azacitidine
14.7 mo
Placebo + azacitidine
9.6 mo
Source
Complete remissionprimary
Venetoclax + azacitidine36.7 of 100
Placebo + azacitidine17.9 of 100
Composite CR (CR + CRi)
Venetoclax + azacitidine66.4 of 100
Placebo + azacitidine28.3 of 100
EndpointArmnValueHR (95% CI)pSource
Overall survival (median)primaryVenetoclax + azacitidine28614.7 months0.66 (0.52–0.85)<0.001link
Placebo + azacitidine1459.6 months
Complete remissionprimaryVenetoclax + azacitidine36.7%
Placebo + azacitidine17.9%
Composite CR (CR + CRi)Venetoclax + azacitidine66.4%
Placebo + azacitidine28.3%
Replication
VIALE-C (venetoclax + low-dose cytarabine) showed a consistent but initially non-significant OS trend; large real-world series (US, Europe, Asia) reproduce ~60% composite CR and 11-15 month median OS.

Key papers

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Connected

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