Nilotinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia

The introduction of targeted therapy has revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The pivotal role of the Philadelphia chromosome, resulting from the breakpoint cluster region-Abelson (BCR-ABL) translocation, led to the development of imatinib mesylate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with significant activity against the BCR-ABL oncoprotein. Unprecedented clinical activity in CML led to rapid approval and established first-line therapy with imatinib mesylate as the standard of care in most patients. However, the occurrence of imatinib resistance or intolerance has sparked the development of newer drugs with increased activity or specificity. Nilotinib is a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been rationally designed on the basis of imatinib. An overview is given on clinical results in imatinib-resistant or -intolerant patients that led to its current approval as second-line therapy for the chronic and accelerated phases of CML. Future studies will address the role of nilotinib as first-line therapy, in combination strategies and in the context of specific BCR-ABL mutations.