imatinib
Regulatory sources consulted
Approved indications
- BCR::ABL1-positive CML, Ph+ ALL, MDS/MPD, systemic mastocytosis, hypereosinophilic syndrome/chronic eosinophilic leukemia, GIST, and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, according to each indication’s criteria.
Contraindications
Absolute
- Hypersensitivity to imatinib or excipients.
Clinical warnings
- Monitor blood counts, hepatic and renal function, fluid retention, bleeding, infection, and tumor lysis syndrome. Adjust or interrupt only according to the indication-specific table. — CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 01198008
- Monitor edema/fluid retention, heart failure, bleeding, hepatotoxicity, renal function, and TSH with levothyroxine. — CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 01198008
Drug interactions
- HighStrong CYP3A4 inducers/inhibitors and grapefruit
Mechanism: They alter imatinib exposure.
Recommendation: Avoid inducers and grapefruit; monitor with inhibitors. Use heparin rather than warfarin when anticoagulation is needed.
CIMA/AEMPS, ficha técnica 01198008
Pregnancy and lactation
It may cause fetal harm. Verify pregnancy; women must use contraception during treatment and for 14 days afterward. Do not breastfeed during treatment or for 1 month afterward.
Recent literature (PubMed)
Patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) need long-term therapy with high efficacy and safety. Asciminib, a BCR::ABL1 inhibitor specifically targeting the ABL myristoyl pocket, may offer better efficacy and safety and fewer side effects than currently available frontline ATP-competitive tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). In a phase 3 trial, patients with newly diagnosed CML were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either asciminib (80 mg once daily) or an investigator-selected TKI, with randomization stratified by European Treatment and Outcome Study long-term survival score category (low, intermediate, or high risk) and by TKI selected by investigators before randomization (including imatinib and second-generation TKIs). The primary end points were major molecular response (defined as BCR::ABL1 transcript levels ≤0.1% on the International Scale [IS]) at week 48, for comparisons between asciminib and investigator-selected TKIs and between asciminib and investigator-selected TKIs in the prerandomization-selected imatinib stratum. A total of 201 patients were assigned to receive asciminib and 204 to receive investigator-selected TKIs. The median follow-up was 16.3 months in the asciminib group and 15.7 months in the investigator-selected TKI group. A major molecular response at week 48 occurred in 67.7% of patients in the asciminib group, as compared with 49.0% in the investigator-selected TKI group (difference, 18.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.6 to 28.2; adjusted two-sided P<0.001]), and in 69.3% of patients in the asciminib group as compared with 40.2% in the imatinib group within the imatinib stratum (difference, 29.6 percentage points; 95% CI, 16.9 to 42.2; adjusted two-sided P<0.001). The percentage of patients with a major molecular response at week 48 was 66.0% with asciminib and 57.8% with TKIs in the second-generation TKI stratum (difference, 8.2 percentage points; 95% CI, -5.1 to 21.5). Adverse events of gra
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has an annual incidence of 2 cases per 100 000 people and is newly diagnosed in approximately 9300 individuals per year in the US. Approximately 150 000 people in the US and 5 million worldwide have CML. Chronic myeloid leukemia is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome, which is defined by the BCR::ABL1 oncogene that develops after fusion of the ABL1 proto-oncogene to the constitutively active BCR gene. Approximately 90% of people with CML present with an indolent chronic phase of CML, defined as blasts of less than 10% in the blood or bone marrow, absence of extramedullary evidence of leukemia, basophils of less than 20%, and platelet counts of 100 to 1000 × 109/L. The most advanced stage is CML blastic phase (CML-BP), characterized by the World Health Organization as 20% or more blasts/immature cells and by the MD Anderson Cancer Center and European LeukemiaNet as 30% or more. Approximately 1% to 2% of patients with CML present with CML-BP. Since 2000, first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting BCR::ABL1, such as imatinib, and second-generation TKIs, such as bosutinib, dasatinib, and nilotinib, have improved CML-related mortality from 10% to 20% per year to 1% to 2% per year, such that patients with CML have survival rates similar to those of a general age-matched population. Six BCR::ABL1 TKIs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, including 5 that are first-line treatment (imatinib, dasatinib, bosutinib, nilotinib, and asciminib) and 5 approved for treatment after disease progression despite initial therapy (dasatinib, bosutinib, nilotinib, ponatinib, asciminib). Effects on improved survival are similar with all TKIs, although more patients are able to promptly achieve and maintain BCR::ABL1 clearance with second- and third-generation TKIs. Medication adherence is important to maintain treatment responsiveness. All TKIs are associated with he
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has an annual incidence of approximately two cases per 100,000. The reduction in annual mortality from 10%-20% to 1% with BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has resulted in an increased prevalence in the United States of an estimated 150,000 cases in 2025. This translates into a worldwide estimated prevalence of approximately 5 million cases, and hence the need to make TKIs available and affordable to all patients. The four main goals of CML therapy are to (1) improve survival; (2) achieve a durable deep molecular response, which may lead to a treatment-free remission status; (3) reduce short- and long-term side effects; and (4) provide good treatment value. Today, the six approved BCR::ABL1 TKIs, five in frontline therapy (imatinib, dasatinib, bosutinib, nilotinib, and asciminib) and all six in later line therapy (including ponatinib), fulfill in one form or another these requirements. Third-generation TKIs that target the ABL1 kinase domain (olverembatinib and ELVN-001) or the myristoyl pocket (TGRX-678 and TERN-701) are under development. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a one-time, cost-effective, curative treatment in patients with CML resistant to second-generation TKIs, which is perhaps surprisingly underused in 2025, given the high enthusiasm for it before the development of TKIs. However, serious complications, such as graft-vs-host disease, or death could occur. This review summarizes relevant information concerning the management of CML in 2025, and addresses some CML treatment pathways that became entrenched in the management of CML in the first 15-20 years of TKI experience, which may need to be revisited.
In newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), disease progression due to acquired resistance to first- or second-generation BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitors is common. Ponatinib inhibits BCR::ABL1 and all single-mutation variants, including T315I. To compare frontline ponatinib vs imatinib in adults with newly diagnosed Ph+ ALL. Global registrational, phase 3, open-label trial in adults aged 18 years or older with newly diagnosed Ph+ ALL. From January 2019 to May 2022, eligible patients at 77 sites were randomized 2:1 to ponatinib (30 mg/d) or imatinib (600 mg/d) with reduced-intensity chemotherapy, followed by single-agent ponatinib or imatinib after the cycle 20 phase of the trial. The last date of follow-up for this analysis was August 12, 2022. Patients received ponatinib, 30 mg/d, or imatinib, 600 mg/d, with reduced-intensity chemotherapy, followed by single-agent ponatinib or imatinib after cycle 20. The ponatinib dose was reduced to 15 mg on achievement of minimal residual disease-(MRD) negative complete remission. The primary end point of this interim analysis was MRD-negative complete remission (≤0.01% BCR::ABL1 [MR4] centrally assessed by reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction), with complete remission maintained for at least 4 weeks at the end of cycle 3. The key secondary end point was event-free survival. Of 245 patients randomized (median age, 54 years; 133 [54.3%] female), 232 (ponatinib, n = 154; imatinib, n = 78) who had p190 or p210 dominant isoforms verified by the central laboratory were analyzed for the primary end point. The MRD-negative complete remission rate (primary end point) was significantly higher with ponatinib (34.4% [53/154]) vs imatinib (16.7% [13/78]) (risk difference, 0.18 [95% CI, 0.06-0.29]; P = .002). At the data cutoff, event-free survival had not met the prespecified number of events. Median event-free survival was not reached in the ponatinib group and