Thank you to everyone who completed our recent survey investigating App use and functionality in the setting of CML.

We were overwhelmed by the number of responses and our final total of 286 (from every corner of the globe!) was far greater than we had expected.

Our key findings were that just under a quarter of respondents were aware that Apps are available to support patients in managing their CML - however, only 1 in 9 respondents had actually used an App.

Several papers authored by international experts have proposed recommendations on the management of BCR-ABL1+ chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Following these recommendations, survival of CML patients has become very close to normal. The next, ambitious, step is to bring as many patients as possible into a condition of treatment-free remission (TFR).

https://ashpublications.org/bloodadvances/article/3/24/4280/429987/Manag...

Atypical CML, or aCML is a form of CML where there is no expression of the BCR-Abl fusion gene. This has made it difficult to treat.

https://www.targetedonc.com/news/ruxolitinib-shows-noteworthy-responses-...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-019-0699-y

An investigation into the use of app technology in patients with CML.

Patients who maintained MR4.5 at 24 months of consolidation therapy proceeded to discontinuation of nilotinib. The study enrolled 149 patients; 112 patients proceeded to consolidation therapy with nilotinib; 90 patients maintained MR4.5 with consolidation therapy, and 87 proceeded to discontinuation of nilotinib. The treatment-free remission (TFR) (MR4.5) rate at both 1 and 3 years after discontinuation of nilotinib was the same, at 60.9% (90% CI 51.6–69.7).

19 September 2019

We demonstrate that combining asciminib with ATP site TKIs enhances target inhibition and suppression of resistant outgrowth in Ph+ clinical isolates and cell lines. Inclusion of asciminib restores ponatinib's effectiveness against currently untreatable compound mutants at clinically achievable concentrations. Our findings support combining asciminib with ponatinib as a treatment strategy for this molecularly defined group of patients.

Dasatinib, a potent Bcr‐Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of chronic‐phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML‐CP) in the frontline and salvage settings. Notable side effects include pleural effusions and myelosuppression. Dasatinib at 50 mg daily has previously been reported to be active and better tolerated than the approved 100‐mg daily dose. The aim of this study was to update the long‐term follow‐up results of dasatinib at 50 mg daily as frontline therapy for CML‐CP. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02689440)

Chronic myeloid leukaemia is driven by a hybrid gene, BCR-ABL1, that codes for a leukemogenic tyrosine kinase (TK) protein of 210 KDa (p210BCR-ABL1). Resistance to TK inhibitor (TKI) therapy occurs in relatively few patients, no more than 10%, while persistence of minimal residual disease during TKI therapy occurs in the great majority of patients.  Leukemia vol 33, pgs 2358–2364 (2019

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41375-019-0562-1

Jorge Cortes sees the future of CML care in earlier treatments. “I think that a lot of the focus now is to see if we should do some interventions early on to try to optimize the number of patients who get to the deepest molecular responses and that would, at some point, be eligible for treatment discontinuation,” he said in an interview with Targeted Oncology.

Read the full article.