Key clinical point: Combination of dasatinib and nivolumab was safe but did not show any clinical activity in patients with difficult-to-treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) or accelerated phase (AP) who received at least 2 prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
Major finding: No drug limiting toxicities were observed even with the maximum dose of both drugs. The most common grade 3 or higher adverse event (AE) of any cause was diarrhea (13%), of which only 3% were considered drug related. Serious AEs occurred in 48% of patients; however, only 2 were considered drug related. The overall response rate was low with none being durable.
Study details : Findings are from a phase 1b dose-escalation study involving 31 patients with CML in CP (n=24) or AP (n=7) who received 2 or more prior TKIs and showed progression, resistance, suboptimal response, or intolerance to the most recent therapy.
Disclosures: This trial was funded by Bristol Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, USA. The lead author along with other authors declared receiving grants, advisory boards, honoraria, and/or research funding from various pharmaceutical companies including Bristol Myers Squibb. R Swanink and PM Regueira were employees of Bristol Myers Squibb.
Source: Martínez-López J et al. Leuk Lymphoma. 2021 Mar 2. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2021.1889536.