Key clinical point: Nilotinib treatment resulted in an early and stable clearance of CD34+/lin-Ph+ cells from the bone marrow of patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-CP).
Major finding: At 3, 6, and 12 months, only 12.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5%-22.8%), 7% (95% CI, 2.3%-15.7%), and 0% (95% CI, 0.0%-5.0%) samples, respectively, showed residual CD34+/lin-Ph+ cells, indicating rapid and sustained clearance of these cells from the bone marrow of treated patients.
Study details: Findings are from a prospective, single-arm, PhilosoPhi34 study including 87 adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML-CP treated with nilotinib 300 mg twice daily.
Disclosures: This study was partly supported by Novartis. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Pungolino E et al. Eur J Haematol. 2021 Jun 17. doi: 10.1111/ejh.13680 .