Abstract
We retrospectively analyzed the rates of significant non-hematological adverse events (AEs) in 105 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs) dasatinib or nilotinib used as second-line therapy in Polish tertiary care centers. Our analysis revealed that in a “real life setting,” nearly half of patients with CML on second-generation TKIs suffer from therapy complications. Grade 2–5 non-hematological AEs were observed in 40% of patients treated with nilotinib and in 42% treated with dasatinib (p = 0.83). Severe vascular events including peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) occurred in 11% of patients on nilotinib and 4% on dasatinib (p = 0.16). Pleural effusion occurred more often in the dasatinib group (26%) than in the nilotinib group (2%) (p = 0.003). Importantly, most AEs occurred late, after more than 1 year of treatment. Since AEs are most often the reason for poor therapy compliance, careful monitoring of tolerability is crucial for an optimal treatment response in CML.
Potential conflict of interest
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