Is venetoclax/venetoclax necessary to be used in combination with decitabine chemotherapy? What is the effect

Decitabine (Decitabine) belongs to a class of anticancer drugs called DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitors, which can change the way diseased cells in the blood and bone marrow grow and reproduce. Giving venetoclax in combination with decitabine may be helpful in treating patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as an option to treat the leukemia.

Venetoclax is a targeted therapy drug that promotes cell apoptosis by inhibiting theBCL-2 protein in leukemia cells. The combined use of venetoclax and decitabine can produce a synergistic effect and improve the therapeutic effect, but is not required to be used together. Studies have shown that this combination therapy is more effective in treating patients with refractory/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. There is currently insufficient data to support whether the combination is more effective than either drug alone. In addition, combined use of drugs may also increase the incidence of adverse reactions, so the pros and cons need to be weighed before use.

The original drug of Venekra has been launched in China and has been included in Class B medical insurance. The price of 100mg*14 tablets per box may be around 2,000 RMB, while the Turkish version of the original drug sold overseas, with the specification of 100mg*112 tablets, costs more than 10,000 RMB per box (the price may fluctuate due to the exchange rate). There are also cheaper generic drugs of Venacla sold overseas. Their pharmaceutical ingredients are basically the same as those of the original drugs sold domestically and abroad. For example, the price of 100mg*120 tablets produced by a Bangladesh pharmaceutical factory is more than 4,000 yuan per box (the price may fluctuate due to the exchange rate).