The Role of Menin Inhibitors in AML

Eytan M. Stein, MD, hematologic oncologist and director of the Program for Drug Development in Leukemia, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, defines Menin inhibition and its role in the leukemia space.

According to Stein, Menin is a protein that is a part of the pathogenesis of a certain subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that has rearrangements in the MLL locus. Currently, Menin inhibitors are used to target NMP1 mutations, KMT2A rearrangements, and KMT2Ar rearrangements.

Based on early data from clinical trials in patients with relapsed/refractory AML, Menin inhibitors have demonstrated promising safety, efficacy, and improvements in overall response rates. Now, investigators are evaluating multiple Menin inhibitors as they have the potential to be the next class of drugs approved for the treatment of some AML and ALL.

Transcription:

0:08 | Menin is a protein that is uniquely involved in the pathogenesis of acute leukemias that harbor a rearrangement in the MLL gene locus and in patients with NPM1 mutations. When you have those diseases, the interaction of Menin with some other proteins leads to the development of that leukemia. Therefore, if you can take an inhibitor of Menin to block that protein interaction, what ends up happening is that the leukemia essentially melts away.

0:45 | What I talked about during a presentation [at 10th Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology] was a number of current Menin inhibitors including a couple of Menin inhibitors that are in clinical development, 1 from Syndax Pharmaceuticals and 1 from Kura Oncology.