Treatment sequence of lenalidomide and hypomethylating agents and the impact on clinical outcomes for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Lenalidomide and hypomethylating agents (HMAs) azacitidine and decitabine are approved for treating myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but optimal sequencing is unclear. Adults with MDS were identified from a US payer claims database (Inovalon MORE2 Registry) to compare outcomes with lenalidomide followed by HMA (LEN-HMA) or HMA followed by lenalidomide (HMA-LEN). There were 96 patients who received LEN-HMA and 89 who received HMA-LEN. LEN-HMA-treated patients had a longer time to second treatment discontinuation (29.0 vs. 19.0months, p=.009; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.29-0.91, p=.023). LEN-HMA-treated patients had a longer median time to insurance disenrollment (22.4 vs. 16.1months, p<.001; adjusted HR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.44-0.92, p=.017), used as a proxy for survival. Longer treatment duration and survival with LEN-HMA support first-line use of lenalidomide in MDS in sequence with HMAs.