Barcelona, 12 June 2010: The BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor dasatinib (Sprycel, Bristol-Myers Squibb) achieves significantly higher rates of complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response than imatinib as first-line treatment in patients with previously untreated chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), according to results from the randomised phase 3 DASISION trial reported at the European Hematology Association congress.

The study randomised 519 adults newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome positive CML to dasatinib (100mg once daily) or imatinib (400mg once daily). Results after a median follow-up period of 14 months showed that the rate of confirmed complete cytogenetic response at 12 months was significantly higher in patients treated with dasatinib (77%) compared to those randomised to imatinib (66%; p=0.007). Patients treated with dasatinib were twice as likely to achieve a major molecular response (46% vs 28%; hazard ratio = 2.0, p