A Critical Review of Trials of First-Line BCR-ABL Inhibitor Treatment in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Chronic Phase

Given that evidence suggests achievement of an early response is predictive of improved long-term outcomes, earlier use of these compounds may lead to more rapid, deeper responses corresponding with improvements in patient outcome. Although future studies will benefit from more uniform definitions of end points and methods of analysis, data from published studies of first-line BCR-ABL inhibitor treatment for patients with newly diagnosed CML-CP support the use of dasatinib or nilotinib in place of imatinib.