Efficacy of dasatinib in a chronic myeloid leukemia patient with disease molecular relapse and chronic GVHD after haploidentical BMT: AN IMMUNOMODULATORY EFFECT?

Dasatinib, a novel protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting Src family kinases (for example, Lyn, Fyn, Hck) and Abl family kinases, was recently approved for treatment of adult patients with CML, resistant or intolerant to imatinib.1 It potently inhibits the constitutively active BCR–ABL kinase, but also Lck at low picomolar concentrations.2 Recently it was reported that dasatinib specifically targets the earliest events in TCR signaling and enhances the inhibitory effects of CYA, and was thus proposed as a new therapeutic opportunity to address autoimmune diseases, GVHD and transplant allograft rejection.3