Key clinical point: Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with first-line nilotinib vs. imatinib may have a higher risk for vascular adverse events (VAE), suggesting that older patients and those with a history of cerebrovascular diseases using nilotinib should be closely monitored.
Major finding: The risk for VAEs was significantly higher in patients treated with nilotinib vs. imatinib (hazard ratio 3.13; P < .05). Nilotinib use (odds ratio [OR] 3.43; P = .03), older age (OR, 1.04; P < .01), and history of cerebrovascular diseases (OR, 3.49; P = .02) were significant risk factors for VAEs.
Study details: Findings are from a retrospective analysis of 1,111 adult patients with CML treated with either frontline imatinib (n=565), nilotinib (n=306), or dasatinib (n=240).
Disclosures: No funding source or disclosures were reported.
Source: Chen MT et al. Oncologist. 2021 Aug 21. doi: 10.1002/onco.13944 .