Ponatinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

Ponatinib is a novel, next-generation, small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor with potent activity against the BCR-ABL fusion oncogene as well as all other ABL kinase domain mutations that confer resistance to earlier generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Due to its unique structure, it is the only tyrosine kinase inhibitor with the capability to counter the highly resistant T315I or gate-keeper mutation in leukemic cells that express the Philadelphia chromosome. This review will focus on the preclinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and clinical utility of ponatinib in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Chronic myeloid leukemia; Ponatinib; T315I mutation; Tyrosine kinase inhibitor.