Photo Credit: Nemes Laszlo

The following is a summary of “Changes in chronic myeloid leukemia treatment modalities and outcomes after introduction of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors as first-line therapy: a multi-institutional retrospective study by the CML Cooperative Study Group,” published in the April 2024 issue of Hematology by Iriyama al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study assessing the impact of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (2G-TKIs) used as first-line (1L) therapy on treatment approaches and outcomes in patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML).

They divided patients into two groups based on their TKI treatment timeline: up to December 2010 (imatinib era group, n = 185) and after January 2011 (2G-TKI era group, n = 425).In the imatinib era, patients were primarily treated with imatinib, while in the 2G-TKI era, most patients received dasatinib (55%), followed by nilotinib (36%).

The results showed no significant differences in outcomes, including PFS, OS, and CML-related death (CRD). When stratified by risk scores, the ELTS score outperformed the Sokal score in prognostic performance. At the same time, both systems predicted CRD in the imatinib era; only the ELTS score did so in the 2G-TKI era. Notably, high-risk patients with an ELTS score had better outcomes in the 2G-TKI era than in the imatinib era.

Investigators concluded that expanding treatment options likely led to improved outcomes in CP-CML, especially for high-risk patients identified by the ELTS score.

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12185-024-03758-4