B-M S's dasatinib shows promise in CML studies

US drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb says that data from a Phase II trial of dasatinib, a developmental anticancer agent, suggest that the compound may induce hematologic and cytogentic responses in some patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who have become resistant to Merck & Co's Glivec (imatinib) treatment.

Dasatinib assessed in CML and Ph+ ALL

The findings, which were presented at the 11th European Hematology Association Congress, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, are derived from four studies in which patients with various types of leukemia were treated with 70mg of the orally-administered drug, twice a day. In the START-C study, which was an assessment of the drug as a treatment for chronic phase CML sufferers who were resistant or intolerant to imatinib, hematologic and cytogenetic responses were achieved by 90% and 51% of patients, respectively.