A Once-Daily Dasatinib Dosing Strategy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

The BCR-ABL inhibitor imatinib is standard first-line therapy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and has revolutionized treatment of the disease. However, resistance and intolerance to the agent have emerged as major clinical complications. Dasatinib is the first and only dual BCR-ABL/SRC family kinase inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with CML in any phase or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia who are resistant to or intolerant of imatinib. The agent is well tolerated and has shown clinical activity in such patients. As with other oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors, nonadherence to the prescribed dasatinib treatment regimen could obstruct a successful outcome. A new recommended dose of 100 mg once daily has been approved for patients with chronic phase CML. That dosing regimen, combined with appropriate management of dasatinib-related adverse events, may help patients adhere to their prescribed treatment and achieve maximum therapeutic benefit. This article highlights recent changes to the dasatinib label, including results with the 100 mg once-daily starting dose for patients with chronic phase CML, and discusses nursing strategies for the successful management of adverse events in patients receiving dasatinib.