EPIC: A phase III randomized, open-label study of ponatinib versus imatinib in adult patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase.

TPS7129 Background: The hallmark genetic abnormality of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), known as the Philadelphia chromosome, generates the BCR-ABL fusion gene; expression of BCR-ABL in hematopoietic stem cells gives rise to CML. Ponatinib is a potent oral pan–BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is active against native and mutated forms of BCR-ABL, including the T315I gatekeeper mutant. Results from the phase 1 and phase 2 studies of ponatinib demonstrated that ponatinib is generally well tolerated and has substantial anti-leukemic activity in patients with CML who are resistant or intolerant to prior TKI therapy, regardless of baseline mutation status. In addition, multivariate analyses suggest that ponatinib has greater activity in younger patients who are less heavily pretreated and have a shorter time since diagnosis. The phase 3 EPIC (Evaluation of Ponatinib vs Imatinib in CML) study is testing the hypothesis that ponatinib is an effective treatment for newly diagnosed chronic phase (CP) CM...