Real-world toxicity and efficacy of asciminib in heavily pretreated patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Although tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have improved the prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), some patients do not respond to TKIs. We evaluated 21 patients with CML treated with asciminib, which is effective in heavily pretreated patients. The median age was 63 years (range 25-82). Fourteen patients (67%) had been treated with at least three TKIs (range 2-5 prior lines). The switch to asciminib was due to intolerance in 14 patients (67%) and failure in seven patients (33%). The median duration of asciminib exposure was 237 days. With a median follow-up of 273 days, three patients (14%) discontinued asciminib due to failure and two (10%) due to intolerance. Among the 20 evaluable patients, the cumulative rates of molecular response with a two-log reduction, major molecular response, and four-log reduction were 80%, 60%, and 15%, respectively. The six-month event-free survival rate was 74.7%. The most frequent adverse events were liver dysfunction (29%), elevated amylase levels (14%), and renal dysfunction (10%). No patient experienced cardiovascular events. Six patients (29%) experienced cross-intolerance to asciminib, a rate similar to that for previous TKIs. Our study supports the efficacy and tolerability of asciminib in heavily pretreated CML patients in real-world settings.

Keywords: Asciminib; Chronic myeloid leukemia; Tyrosine kinase inhibitors.