Dasatinib Efficacy in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase (CML-CP) and Pre-Existing BCR-ABL Mutations

Dasatinib (SPRYCEL^®) is an effective BCR-ABL inhibitor that is 325-fold more potent than imatinib and 16-fold more potent than nilotinib in vitro against unmutated BCR-ABL. Across a series of phase II and III trials, dasatinib has demonstrated durable efficacy in patients with CML following resistance, suboptimal response, or intolerance to imatinib. BCR-ABL mutations are an important cause of imatinib failure and suboptimal response. Here, the efficacy of dasatinib in patients with CML-CP who had baseline BCR-ABL mutations following imatinib treatment was analyzed using data from three trials (CA180-013, -017, and -034). Mutational assessment of the BCR-ABL kinase domain was performed using RT-PCR and direct sequencing of peripheral blood cell mRNA. Hematologic, cytogenetic, and molecular response rates were reported after ≥24 mos of follow-up. Duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS; in 013/034) were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, and rates were estimated at the 24-mo time point. Of 1,150 patients with CML-CP who received dasatinib, 1,043 had a baseline mutational assessment and were analyzed further. Of these, 402 patients (39%) had a BCR-ABL mutation, including 8% of 238 imatinib-intolerant and 48% of 805 imatinib-resistant patients. Excluding known polymorphisms, 64 different BCR-ABL mutations were detected affecting 49 amino acids, with G250 (n=61), M351 (n=54), M244 (n=46), F359 (n=42), H396 (n=37), Y253 (n=26), and E255 (n=25) most frequently affected. Dasatinib treatment in patients with or without a baseline BCR-ABL mutation, respectively, resulted in high rates of major cytogenetic response (MCyR; 56% vs 65%), complete cytogenetic response (CCyR; 44% vs 56%), major molecular response (MMR; 33% vs 45%); PFS (70% vs 83%), and OS (89% vs 94%) (Table). After 24 mos, CCyRs in patients with or without a BCR-ABL mutation had been maintained by 84% vs 85%, respectively, of those achieving this response. Among patients with mutations who received dasatinib 100 mg once daily, which has a more favorable clinical safety profile, efficacy and durability were similar (MCyR: 55%; CCyR: 41%; MMR: 36%; PFS: 73%; OS: 90%). In general, high response rates and durable responses were observed in patients with different mutation types, including highly imatinib-resistant mutations in amino acids L248, Y253, E255, F359, and H396. When responses were analyzed according to dasatinib cellular IC₅₀ for individual BCR-ABL mutations, dasatinib efficacy was observed in 44 patients who had any of 5 imatinib-resistant mutations with a dasatinib cellular IC₅₀ >3 nM (Q252H, E255K/V, V299L, and F317L, excluding T315I), including MCyR in 34%, CCyR in 25%, MMR in 18%, PFS in 48%, and OS in 81%. Among patients whose mutations had a dasatinib IC₅₀ ≤3 nM (n=254) or unknown IC₅₀ (n=83), responses and durability were comparable to patients with no BCR-ABL mutation. As expected, few patients with a T315I mutation (IC₅₀ >200 nM; n=21) achieved a response. Among 70 patients with >1 mutation, a MCyR was achieved in 53% and a CCyR in 37%. Among patients with mutational analysis at last follow-up (n=162), 42 (26%) retained a BCR-ABL mutation (20 retained a mutation with IC₅₀ >3 nM), 42 (26%) lost a mutation (5 lost a mutation with IC₅₀ >3 nM), and 44 (27%) developed a new mutation (39 developed a mutation with IC₅₀ >3 nM), with some patients counted in more than one category. Overall, this analysis demonstrates that dasatinib has broad efficacy against all BCR-ABL mutations except for T315l. For patients with BCR-ABL mutations, dasatinib treatment is associated with durable responses and favorable long-term outcomes.

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