Journal Article DKFZ-2026-00213

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

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2026
Ferrata Storti Foundation Pavia

Haematologica nn, nn () [10.3324/haematol.2025.288956]
 GO

Abstract: 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 firstin-class, competitive telomerase inhibitor approved to treat certain adult patients with LR-MDS 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 (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 and more imetelstat-treated patients experienced sustained improvement in fatigue 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 nonresponders for fatigue (70%, 73%, and 88%, respectively, vs. 37%, 41%, and 44%, respectively; P.

Classification:

Note: #NCTZFB9# / epub

Contributing Institute(s):
  1. Koordinierungsstelle NCT Dresden (DD04)
Research Program(s):
  1. 899 - ohne Topic (POF4-899) (POF4-899)

Appears in the scientific report 2026
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 Record created 2026-01-27, last modified 2026-01-28



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