Study Of Activity Of E6201, A Dual Flt3 And Mek Inhibitor, In Acute Myelogenous Leukemia With Flt3 Or Ras Mutation

Internal tandem duplication (ITD) or point mutation of Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) and N/KRAS mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) lead to aberrant activation of FLT3 and/or RAS–mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways and are associated with poor prognosis (Kottaridis et al, Leuk Lymphoma Vol. 44:905, 2003; Thiede et al, Blood Vol. 99;4326, 2002). Therapy with inhibitors targeting these pathways individually may at best result in short lasting responses in the appropriate mutational context (Borthakur et al, Haematologica Vol. 96:62, 2011; Cortes et al, Blood Vol. 114:636a, 2009). Persistent activation of MEK/ERK signaling pathway is seen in cells resistant to FLT3-ITD inhibitor sorafenib that harbor acquired point mutations of FLT3 in tyrosine kinase domains in addition to ITD mutation (Moore et al, Leukemia Vol. 26:1462, 2012).