Dr. Hobbs Discusses the Treatment Landscape of CML

Gabriela S. Hobbs, MD, clinical director, Leukemia Service, assistant in medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the treatment landscape of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Data may now support the discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in some patients with CML. This is due to the success of TKIs in the treatment of some patients with this disease. Since patients are experiencing such benefit, TKI therapy may be safely discontinued, a suggestion supported by the NCCN. The first TKI that was FDA approved for the treatment of patients with CML was imatinib (Gleevec) in 2001, but multiple others have entered the landscape since then.

Hobbs says that her main focus is figuring out which drug will be successful in controlling the patient’s disease, as well as providing the possibility of not having to take these medications for the rest of their lives. This reduces the burden of side effects on the patient. There are not enough data yet on long-term side effects of TKIs in CML to fully support discontinuation, though.