Data Confirms Dasatinib Effective for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Updated clinical trial results show that the drug dasatinib (Sprycel) continues to be highly effective in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia who were unable to tolerate Gleevec or who developed resistance to it, reports a team led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Richard Stone, MD, of Dana-Farber, will present the results of the START-C trial at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology on Tuesday, Dec. 11, in Atlanta.

“Previous results showed that about 65 percent of patients who couldn’t tolerate Gleevec or became resistant will benefit from dasatinib,” said Richard Stone, MD, of Dana-Farber. “Now, with a longer followup of at least two years, these responses are durable. Very few people have relapsed on the drug.”

Dasatinib, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor made by Bristol-Myers Squibb that blocks the abnormal BCR-ABL growth signals of the Philadelphia chromosome, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. It is 325 times more powerful than Gleevec in blocking BCR-ABL, and also inhibits other cancerous growth signals.

Release date: December 11, 2007
Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute