Are there better Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitors for chronic myeloid leukaemia than imatinib? Evaluation of Saglio G, Kim D-W, Issaragrisil S, et al. Nilotinib versus imatinib for newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia. N Engl J Med 2010;362:2251-9, and Kantarjian H, Shah NP, Hochhaus A, et al. Dasatinib versus imatinib in newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia. N Engl J Med 2010;362:2260-70

Abstract

The Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitor imatinib is the standard treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Some subjects with CML do not respond to, or are intolerant of, imatinib. Nilotinib and dasatinib were initially developed to treat these subjects, and were shown to be effective. They are now being trialled as initial 'inib' treatment for CML. The objective was to evaluate the recent Phase III clinical trials comparing nilotinib or dasatinib with imatinib in newly diagnosed CML. Nilotinib and dasatinib were shown to give a higher rate of complete cytogenic and major molecular responses than imatinib over 1 year. They should be considered as first choice in the treatment of subjects who develop CML. However, there are still major limitations to the populations with which these 'inib' drugs can be used, and how they can be used.