Rationale: There is currently no clinical standard for induction therapy in the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph ALL). Chemotherapy in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) recognized as the first line of therapy to induce remission in Ph ALL patients; however, both the infectious and non-infectious toxicities remain high and lead to early excessive treatment-related mortality (TRM). Single-agent TKI "monotherapy" may reduce toxicity and TRM; however, TKI induction monotherapy and its effectiveness in the induction of remission in newly diagnosed Ph ALL has yet to be investigated.
Patient concerns: A 59-year-old man who was newly diagnosed Ph ALL with 93% blast cells and a t (9, 22) karyotype. But the patient also suffered from pulmonary infection, including fever and dyspnea.
Diagnoses: The patient was newly diagnosed with Ph ALL with pulmonary infection.
Interventions: The patient received oral dasatinib monotherapy (100 mg qd) for 28 days as induction therapy.
Outcomes: The patient reached complete remission with negative minimal residual disease detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction after induction therapy for 28 days.
Lessons: This is the first report on the use of dasatinib monotherapy in the absence of other drugs, such as steroids, for induction therapy in a newly diagnosed Ph ALL patient with pulmonary infection.