Quality of life and symptom burden with first and second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract Background With the advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have a life expectancy similar to those of age- and sex-matched healthy populations. Nevertheless, patients receiving TKIs report chronic adverse events such as fatigue, edema, and muscle cramps which lead to a decrease in their quality of life (QoL). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the QoL and symptom burden in patients receiving original imatinib, generic imatinib, dasatinib, and nilotinib. Patients and Methods A total of 121 patients with CML who received TKIs for at least three months were enrolled in the study. The QoL was assessed with the EORTC QLQ-C30 and CML-24 modules. The symptom burden was assessed with MDASI-CML and EORTC QLQ-CML24. Results The median age of the study population was 53 (28-90) years, and 83 patients (81.4%) had a low-to-medium Sokal risk score. The ECOG performance status of most patients were good ( Conclusion CML patients receiving first and second-generation TKIs were seen to have a similar QoL and symptom burden.