Considerations in the Management of Patients With Philadelphia Chromosome–Positive Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy

Considerations in the Management of Patients With Philadelphia Chromosome–Positive Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy Hagop Kantarjian and Jorge Cortes MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX The phenomenal success of therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) –positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has drastically changed the prognosis of this disease. With imatinib mesylate, the estimated 7- to 10-year survival is 80% to 85%, 90% to 93% if only CML-related deaths are considered.1–5 Nilotinib and dasatinib are more potent second generation TKIs with activity in CML after imatinib failure.6–8