Dasatinib-blinatumomab for adult Ph+ ALL

Robin Foà, MD, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, outlines the results of a Phase II study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, evaluating dasatinib-blinatumomab in adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In this study, dasatinib was administered to adult patients as induction therapy for 85 days, followed by consolidation therapy using blinatumomab, a bi-specific CD19-targeting monoclonal antibody. At the end of induction, 29% of patients obtained a molecular response; this increased to 60% following two cycles of post-inductive blinatumomab. In addition, after more cycles of blinatumomab, the percentage of patients achieving a molecular response increased. Prof. Foà highlights the ease of administration of dasatinib and blinatumomab, which is highly relevant during the era of COVID-19. Within the Ph+ cohort of patients, variations in the IKZF1 gene were observed and were reflected as differences in the frequency of molecular response achieved. Prof. Foà also highlights the potential for resistance to dasatinib via changes in ABL gene expression and discusses that incidences of resistance were shown to be mediated by consolidation blinatumomab. This interview was recorded via an online conference call with The Video Journal of Hematological Oncology (VJHemOnc).