In a nutshell
This study aimed to investigate kidney function in patients with chronic-phase (CP) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) before and after tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment.
This study concluded that long-term TKI treatment leads to kidney side effects in these patients that may be irreversible after stopping treatment.
Some background
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a type of targeted therapy. TKIs such as imatinib (Gleevec), nilotinib (Tasigna) or dasatinib (Sprycel) have improved survival outcomes for patients with CP-CML. TKIs also have manageable safety but long-term treatment can cause heart or kidney-related side effects. Stopping cancer treatment aims to reduce side effects. However, it is not clear if stopping TKIs in patients with no cancerous genes in the blood (molecular response) can reverse kidney side effects in patients with CP-CML.
Methods & findings
This study involved 33 patients with CP-CML who received TKI treatment. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; a measure of kidney function) was measured before and after stopping TKI treatment. A lower eGFR means a poorer kidney function.
There was a link between eGFR at the time of stopping TKI treatment and the duration of treatment. Patients who received imatinib as first-line treatment had lower eGFR levels compared to those who received dasatinib or nilotinib. This was mainly because imatinib was given for a longer time.
When TKI treatment was stopped, there were no significant increases in kidney function in patients with treatment-free remission or molecular relapse.
The bottom line
This study concluded that TKI-induced kidney side effects are associated with long-term TKI treatment. It was also concluded that these side effects may be irreversible even after stopping treatment.
The fine print
The number of patients included in this study was very small. Larger studies are needed.
What’s next?
If you have concerns regarding the side effects of TKI treatment, please discuss this with your doctor.
Published By :
International journal of hematology
Date :
Apr 18, 2020
