{"id":248104,"date":"2026-04-13T20:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/248104\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T20:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:58:09","slug":"what-is-a-menin-inhibitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/248104\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a menin inhibitor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with leukemia<\/a>, you might have heard about a new treatment option<\/a> called a menin inhibitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what is a menin inhibitor? How does it work? And, which types of leukemia<\/a> can it be used to treat?<\/p>\n

Read on to find out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is a\u00a0menin\u00a0inhibitor?<\/p>\n

One reason people develop leukemia is that their cells are born normal, but the usual pathway to maturity is blocked by various genetic mutations<\/a>. As a result, those cells remain immature and live forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I tend to think of those leukemia cells as children who never really grow up. Instead of going off to college and contributing to society, they just sort of hang around your house because they never develop the skills to find a job and be productive.<\/p>\n

Some mutations that cause this need a sort of cellular scaffold to become activated. That scaffold is called menin. Menin inhibitors dismantle the scaffold and prevent it from being rebuilt so that cells can resume their normal development process.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

How many genetic mutations do menin inhibitors target?<\/p>\n

Several mutations have been identified so far, including KM2TA and NPM1. KM2Ta is common among pediatric\u00a0cancer\u00a0patients\u00a0with acute lymphocytic leukemia<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are\u00a0menin\u00a0inhibitors\u00a0approved by\u00a0the Food\u00a0and Drug Administration (FDA)?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few\u00a0menin\u00a0inhibitors\u00a0have been\u00a0approved by the FDA, but only\u00a0very recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Revumenib\u00a0was approved by the\u00a0FDA\u00a0to treat\u00a0certain types of\u00a0leukemia in\u00a0November\u00a02024.\u00a0\u00a0
\nZiftomenib\u00a0was\u00a0approved\u00a0in\u00a0October\u00a02025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bleximinib and enzolimib are still in development, as are two other menin inhibitors that haven\u2019t been named yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which types of leukemia can menin inhibitors treat?<\/p>\n

Right now, they\u2019re mainly used to treat acute myeloid leukemia<\/a> in patients with one of those mutations. Revumenib is used to a lesser extent in some patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do\u00a0menin\u00a0inhibitors\u00a0have any side effects?<\/p>\n

Yes. The two\u00a0main\u00a0ones\u00a0are:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Differentiation syndrome: This is caused by large numbers of newly maturing cells releasing cytokine, a signaling protein that acts as a chemical messenger for the immune system, prompting it to ramp up. Also known as a \u201ccytokine storm,\u201d differentiation syndrome causes fever, chills, aches, high blood pressure<\/a> and significantly increased white blood cell counts<\/a>. It occurs in about 10-15% of patients.
\nQTc prolongation: This is more of an electrical issue with the heart. Also known as \u201clong QT syndrome,\u201d this is when the lower chambers (ventricles) take too long to contract and relax. Symptoms include dizziness, fainting, palpitations, and, in some cases, seizures. This side effect is more common with revumenib.<\/p>\n

To treat differentiation syndrome, we pause the menin inhibitor and give patients steroids<\/a>, a chemotherapy<\/a> drug called hydroxyurea,\u00a0and\u00a0anti-inflammatory\u00a0drugs<\/a>\u00a0until the episode resolves, then restart the menin inhibitor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To treat QTc prolongation, we also pause the menin inhibitor, avoid other drugs that can cause it, and sometimes give beta blockers or electrolyte<\/a> supplements. We monitor the patient\u2019s heart health<\/a> very closely with EKGs, too, especially after we restart the drug.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0side effects<\/a>\u00a0include\u00a0nausea<\/a>, vomiting,\u00a0muscle\/bone pain<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0infections<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Does UT MD Anderson have\u00a0any\u00a0clinical trials\u00a0involving\u00a0menin\u00a0inhibitors?<\/p>\n

Yes. One of the most exciting is a Phase III study<\/a> involving the combination of the menin inhibitor bleximinib, a targeted therapy<\/a> drug called venetoclax and a chemotherapy<\/a> drug called azacitidine.<\/p>\n

Menin inhibitors are not miracle drugs, but they\u2019re a great addition to our treatment tool kit. Combining them with other types of therapy<\/a> may enable us to give our patients better \u2014 or longer-lasting \u2014 results<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elias Jabbour, M.D<\/a>., is a leukemia specialist with a particular interest in\u00a0acute lymphocytic leukemia.<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at\u00a0UT\u00a0MD Anderson online<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n

Menin inhibitors are a new form of cancer therapy used to treat certain types of leukemia.\u00a0
\nThey\u00a0work by preventing\u00a0certain\u00a0genetic mutations from blocking the\u00a0growth\u00a0of white blood cells.\u00a0
\nThe most common side effects are a sudden ramping up of the immune system\u00a0(called differentiation syndrome)\u00a0and a slower than normal heartbeat\u00a0(called QTc prolongation).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you or someone you know has recently been diagnosed with leukemia, you might have heard about a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[94266,39548,1145,1143,1142,56,58,57,1144,1148,2822,15433],"class_list":{"0":"post-248104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-acute-lymphocytic-leukemia","9":"tag-acute-myeloid-leukemia","10":"tag-caregivers","11":"tag-diagnosis-treatment","12":"tag-family-friends","13":"tag-houston","14":"tag-houston-headlines","15":"tag-houston-news","16":"tag-leukemia","17":"tag-patients","18":"tag-survivors","19":"tag-treatment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}