This was an international phase 2 trial 
. 106 children and young adults had dasatinib with their chemotherapy.
The team looked at how many of them were alive with no sign of their cancer 3 years after treatment.
For those who had dasatinib and chemotherapy they found that over 65 out of every 100 (65.5%) children and young adults were alive with no sign of their cancer coming back. This was better than chemotherapy on its own which was just over 49 out of every 100 (49.2%).
The team also looked at the results of other trials that had imatinib with chemotherapy. They found that for those who had imatinib and chemotherapy just under 60 out of every 100 (59.1%) children and young people were alive with no sign of their cancer coming back. The team found that this was no better or worse than having dasatinib with chemotherapy.
However fewer people who had dasatinib and chemotherapy needed a stem cell transplant or radiotherapy to the head to have the same results.
Side effects
The most common moderate to severe side effects were:
- a high temperature with a low level of white blood cells (febrile neutropenia)
- blood infections
- sepsis
Other common side effects included:
- fungal infections
- a drop in red blood cells
- feeling and being sick
- diarrhoea or constipation
- tummy (abdominal) pain
- sore inflamed mouth
- pain in the arms, legs, back and muscles
- headache
- skin rash
- tiredness
- high temperature
One person stopped taking dasatinib because they were allergic to it. Another stopped taking dasatinib because their blood cells stayed very low after having a stem cell transplant .
Conclusion
The trial team concluded that dasatinib with chemotherapy did help children and young adults with Philadelphia positive ALL. And this is now approved as part of the standard care for these children and young adults.
More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the reference below.
Please note, the information we link to here is not in plain English. It has been written for healthcare professionals and researchers.
Dasatinib with intensive chemotherapy in de novo paediatric Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (CA180-372/COG AALL1122): a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial
S P Hunger and others
Lancet Haematology 2023. Volume 10, pages e510 to e520.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on the information in the article above. This has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. We have not analysed the data ourselves. As far as we are aware, the link we list above is active and the article is free and available to view.
