A trial of dasatinib in patients with imatinib-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors found that the drug did not meet the criteria for clinical activity overall, but may be suitable for a subset of patients with phosphorylated SRC.

But add that “first-line generic imatinib indicated suboptimal efficacy in comparison to the branded imatinib.”

Overall survival among patients with chronic myeloid leukemia remains high after nearly 11 years of treatment with imatinib, analysis of phase III study data shows.

Study findings suggest that the depth of molecular response to imatinib achieved by a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia may influence the relationship between a fluctuating response to treatment and the likelihood of developing resistance to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Studies of Polish and Indian patients with chronic myeloid leukemia suggest that generic formulations of imatinib may be as effective as the branded drug.

Patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors harboring KIT proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine kinase exon 11 deletion mutations derive the greatest benefit from 3 years of adjuvant imatinib treatment, researchers report.

Primary kinetic responses to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib do not differ significantly between children and adults with chronic myeloid leukemia, German study data show.

medwireNews: Initial research suggests that two generic forms of imatinib may not be inferior to the branded version of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in the chronic phase (CML).

Findings from the chronic myeloid leukemia IV study suggest that patients in the chronic phase who respond to imatinib have a high likelihood of survival at 10 years.

Imatinib was the first TKI to gain approval as management for patients with advanced GIST, establishing a new standard of care.

By contrast, receipt of both imatinib and PPIs was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of discontinuing the TKI at 90 days in the CML subgroup versus imatinib alone, according to the report in Cancer .

This was soon followed by a large randomized trial which confirmed the superiority of imatinib over interferon [6].

The phase II trial included 14 patients who had developed resistance to, or were intolerant of, imatinib therapy and 61 patients with a new diagnosis of CML–CP, all of whom were younger than 18 years.

Study findings suggest that bosutinib could be considered as an alternative to imatinib for first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase.

The first trials of treatment discontinuation of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib had more stringent study entry criteria as well as stricter treatment restart rules.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) can result in prolonged and deep responses in many patients. In such cases, can TKIs be safely discontinued to avoid adverse side effects and costs? Etab Atallah (Medical College of Wisconsin, USA) discusses the current issues surrounding TKI discontinuation in CML.

After 2 years of treatment, a complete cytogenetic response was achieved by 96.1% and 82.6% of the newly diagnosed and imatinib-resistant patients, respectively.