Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Chronic Myeloproliferative Disorders

Efficacy and safety of dasatinib in imatinib-resistant or -intolerant patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in blast phase

Abstract

Dasatinib is an inhibitor of BCR-ABL and SRC-family kinases for patients with imatinib-resistant or -intolerant chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In this international phase II trial, dasatinib was administered orally (70 mg twice daily) to patients with myeloid blast phase (MBP, n=109) or lymphoid blast phase (LBP, n=48) CML. After a minimum follow-up of 12 months (range 0.03–20.7 months), major hematologic responses were induced in 34% (MBP-CML) and 35% (LBP-CML) of patients. Major cytogenetic responses were attained in 33% (MBP-CML) and 52% (LBP-CML) of patients and complete cytogenetic responses were attained in 26 and 46%, respectively. Median progression-free survival was 6.7 (MBP-CML) and 3.0 (LBP-CML) months. Median overall survival was 11.8 (MBP-CML) and 5.3 (LBP-CML) months. Overall, dasatinib had acceptable tolerability. Fluid retention events were more frequent in the MBP-CML than the LBP-CML cohort: pleural effusion occurred in 36 and 13% (all grades) and 15 and 6% (grades 3/4), respectively. Other non-hematologic side effects were primarily grade 1/2; grade 3/4 events were recorded in 6% of patients, except febrile neutropenia (15%). Cytopenias were noted in the majority of patients, and were manageable with dose interruptions/reductions. Dasatinib is associated with a promising rate of response in this high-risk population.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Derderian PM, Kantarjian HM, Talpaz M, O’Brien S, Cork A, Estey E et al. Chronic myelogenous leukemia in the lymphoid blastic phase: characteristics, treatment response, and prognosis. Am J Med 1993; 94: 69–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hochhaus A, La Rosée P . Imatinib therapy in chronic myelogenous leukemia: strategies to avoid and overcome resistance. Leukemia 2004; 18: 1321–1331.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sacchi S, Kantarjian HM, O’Brien S, Cortes J, Rios MB, Giles FJ et al. Chronic myelogenous leukemia in nonlymphoid blastic phase: analysis of the results of first salvage therapy with three different treatment approaches for 162 patients. Cancer 1999; 86: 2632–2641.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Wadhwa J, Szydlo RM, Apperley JF, Chase A, Bua M, Marin D et al. Factors affecting duration of survival after onset of blastic transformation of chronic myeloid leukemia. Blood 2002; 99: 2304–2309.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Sawyers CL, Hochhaus A, Feldman E, Goldman JM, Miller CB, Ottmann OG et al. Imatinib induces hematologic and cytogenetic responses in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in myeloid blast crisis: results of a phase II study. Blood 2002; 99: 3530–3539.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ottmann OG, Druker BJ, Sawyers CL, Goldman JM, Reiffers J, Silver RT et al. A phase 2 study of imatinib in patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoid leukemias. Blood 2002; 100: 1965–1971.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Soverini S, Martinelli G, Rosti G, Bassi S, Amabile M, Poerio A et al. ABL mutations in late chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia patients with up-front cytogenetic resistance to imatinib are associated with a greater likelihood of progression to blast crisis and shorter survival: a study by the GIMEMA Working Party on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. J Clin Oncol 2005; 23: 4100–4109.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lombardo LJ, Lee FY, Chen P, Norris D, Barrish JC, Behnia K et al. Discovery of N-(2-chloro-6-methyl-phenyl)-2-(6-(4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-piperazin-1-yl)-2-methylpyrimidin-4-ylamino)thiazole-5-carboxamide (BMS-354825), a dual Src/Abl kinase inhibitor with potent antitumor activity in preclinical assays. J Med Chem 2004; 47: 6658–6661.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Talpaz M, Shah NP, Kantarjian H, Donato N, Nicoll J, Paquette R et al. Dasatinib in imatinib-resistant Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias. N Engl J Med 2006; 354: 2531–2541.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Cortes J, Rousselot P, Kim DW, Ritchie E, Hamerschlak N, Coutre S et al. Dasatinib induces complete hematologic and cytogenetic responses in patients with imatinib-resistant or -intolerant chronic myeloid leukemia in blast crisis. Blood 2007; 109: 3207–3213.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Clopper C, Pearson E . The use of confidence or fiducial limits illustrated in the case of the binomial. Biometrika 1934; 26: 404–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hochhaus A, Baccarani M, Deininger M, Apperley JF, Lipton JH, Goldberg SL et al. Dasatinib induces durable cytogenetic responses in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase with resistance or intolerance to imatinib. Leukemia 2008; 22: 1200–1206.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Guilhot F, Apperley J, Kim DW, Bullorsky EO, Baccarani M, Roboz GJ et al. Dasatinib induces significant hematologic and cytogenetic responses in patients with imatinin-resistant or -intolerant chronic myeloid leukemia. Blood 2007; 109: 4143–4150.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. O’Hare T, Walters DK, Stoffregen EP, Jia T, Manley PW, Mestan J et al. In vitro activity of Bcr-Abl inhibitors AMN107 and BMS-354825 against clinically relevant imatinib-resistant Abl kinase domain mutants. Cancer Res 2005; 65: 4500–4505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Shah NP, Tran C, Lee FY, Chen P, Norris D, Sawyers CL et al. Overriding imatinib resistance with a novel ABL kinase inhibitor. Science 2004; 305: 399–401.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Radich JP . The biology of CML blast crisis. Hematology (Am Soc Hematol Educ Program) 2007; 2007: 384–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Wilson MB, Schreiner SJ, Choi HJ, Kamens J, Smithgall TE . Selective pyrrolo-pyrimidine inhibitors reveal a necessary role for Src family kinases in Bcr-Abl signal transduction and oncogenesis. Oncogene 2002; 21: 8075–8088.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Klejman A, Schreiner SJ, Nieborowska-Skorska M, Slupianek A, Wilson M, Smithgall TE et al. The Src family kinase Hck couples BCR/ABL to STAT5 activation in myeloid leukemia cells. EMBO J 2002; 21: 5766–5774.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Lionberger JM, Wilson MB, Smithgall TE . Transformation of myeloid leukemia cells to cytokine independence by Bcr-Abl is suppressed by kinase-defective Hck. J Biol Chem 2000; 275: 18581–18585.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Meyn III MA, Wilson MB, Abdi FA, Fahey N, Schiavone AP, Wu J et al. Src family kinases phosphorylate the Bcr-Abl SH3-SH2 region and modulate Bcr-Abl transforming activity. J Biol Chem 2006; 281: 30907–30916.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hu Y, Swerdlow S, Duffy TM, Weinmann R, Lee FY, Li S . Targeting multiple kinase pathways in leukemic progenitors and stem cells is essential for improved treatment of Ph+ leukemia in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2006; 103: 16870–16875.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Donato NJ, Wu JY, Stapley J, Gallick G, Lin H, Arlinghaus R et al. BCR-ABL independence and LYN kinase overexpression in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells selected for resistance to STI571. Blood 2003; 101: 690–698.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Ptasznik A, Nakata Y, Kalota A, Emerson SG, Gewirtz AM . Short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the Lyn kinase induces apoptosis in primary, and drug-resistant, BCR-ABL1(+) leukemia cells. Nat Med 2004; 10: 1187–1189.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Dai Y, Rahmani M, Corey SJ, Dent P, Grant S . A Bcr/Abl-independent, Lyn-dependent form of imatinib mesylate (STI-571) resistance is associated with altered expression of Bcl-2. J Biol Chem 2004; 279: 34227–34239.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Ito T, Tanaka H, Kimura A . Establishment and characterization of a novel imatinib-sensitive chronic myeloid leukemia cell line MYL, and an imatinib-resistant subline MYL-R showing overexpression of Lyn. Eur J Haematol 2007; 78: 417–431.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Quintás-Cardama A, Kantarjian H, O’Brien S, Borthakur G, Bruzzi J, Munden R et al. Pleural effusion in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia treated with dasatinib after imatinib failure. J Clin Oncol 2007; 25: 3908–3914.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Heuchel R, Berg A, Tallquist M, Ahlen K, Reed RK, Rubin K et al. Platelet-derived growth factor beta receptor regulates interstitial fluid homeostasis through phosphatidylinositol-3′ kinase signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999; 96: 11410–11415.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. de Lavallade H, Punnialingam S, Milojkovic D, Bua M, Khorashad JS, Gabriel IH et al. Pleural effusions in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia treated with dasatinib may have an immune-mediated pathogenesis. Br J Haematol 2008; 141: 745–747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Sneed TB, Kantarjian HM, Talpaz M, O’Brien S, Rios MB, Bekele BN et al. The significance of myelosuppression during therapy with imatinib mesylate in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase. Cancer 2004; 100: 116–121.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Druker BJ, Guilhot F, O’Brien SG, Gathmann I, Kantarjian H, Gattermann N et al. Five-year follow-up of patients receiving imatinib for chronic myeloid leukemia. N Engl J Med 2006; 355: 2408–2417.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the key contributions made by the remaining primary investigators of this trial: JJ Garcia (Argentina); T Hughes, B Van Leeuwen (Australia); P Valent (Austria); G Verhoef (Belgium); CA De Souza, PE Dorlhiac-Llacer (Brazil); P Laneuville (Canada); K Porkka (Finland); G Marit, J Reiffers, F Maloisel, J-L Harrousseau (France); MC Müller (molecular analyses), T Fischer (Germany); A Nagler (Israel); F Ferrara (Italy); J-H Lee (South Korea); W Schroyens (The Netherlands); P Caguioa (Philippines); B Simonsson, M Ekblom (Sweden); A Gratwohl (Switzerland); P-M Chen (Taiwan); S Jootar (Thailand); T Holyoake (UK); A Rapoport, R Larson, C Schiffer, R Stone, A Greco, S Goldberg, K Bhalla, S Petersdorf, P Emanuel (USA). This study was supported by research funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Professional writing and editorial assistance, funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb, was provided by Gardiner-Caldwell US.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J Cortes.

Additional information

Data contained within this article were presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, 9–12 December 2006.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cortes, J., Kim, DW., Raffoux, E. et al. Efficacy and safety of dasatinib in imatinib-resistant or -intolerant patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in blast phase. Leukemia 22, 2176–2183 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2008.221

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2008.221

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links