Phase 2 study of nilotinib in pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is rare in children and accounts for 5_15% of all myeloid leukemia cases. When we initiated this study with nilotinib, imatinib was the only tyrosine kinase inhibitor indicated for pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome - positive (Ph+) CML in chronic phase (CP); alternative treatment options were needed, particularly for patients who developed resistance or intolerance (R/I) to imatinib. This phase 2 study enrolled pediatric patients with either Ph+ CML-CP R/I to imatinib or dasatinib or newly diagnosed Ph+ CML-CP. Data presented are from analyses with minimum follow-up of up to 24 cycles (1 cycle is 28 days). Fifty-nine patients with Ph+ CML-CP were enrolled, and 58 were treated (R/I, n = 33; newly diagnosed, n = 25). Major molecular response (MMR) rate at cycle 6 in the R/I cohort was 39.4% (primary end point); 57.6% of patients achieved or maintained MMR and 81.8% achieved or maintained complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) by 24 cycles. In patients with newly diagnosed disease, rates of MMR by cycle 12 and CCyR at cycle 12 were 64.0% each (primary end points); by cycle 24, cumulative MMR and CCyR rates were 68.0% and 84.0%, respectively. The safety profile of nilotinib in pediatric patients was generally comparable with the known safety profile in adults, although cardiovascular events were not observed in this study, and hepatic laboratory abnormalities were more frequent; no new safety signals were identified. In summary, nilotinib demonstrated efficacy and a manageable safety profile in pediatric patients with Ph+ CML-CP.