Treatment options for patients suffering from indolent forms of
mastocytosis remain inadequate with the hyperactivation of mast cells responsible for many of the disease's systemic manifestations.
Masitinib is a potent and highly selective oral
tyrosine kinase inhibitor. A combined inhibition of c-Kit and Lyn make it particularly efficient in controlling the activity of mast cells and therefore, of potential therapeutic benefit in
mastocytosis.
Masitinib was administered to 25 patients diagnosed as having systemic or
cutaneous mastocytosis with related handicap (i.e., disabilities associated with flushes, depression,
pruritus and quality-of-life) at the initial dose levels of 3 or 6 mg/kg/day over 12 weeks. In accordance with the AFIRMM study, response was based upon change of clinical symptoms associated with patient handicap at week 12 relative to baseline, regardless of disease subtype. Improvement was observed in all primary endpoints at week 12 including a reduction of flushes, Hamilton rating, and
pruritus as compared with baseline by 64% (P = 0.0005), 43% (P = 0.0049), and 36% (P = 0.0077), respectively. An overall clinical response was observed in 14/25 patients (56%; [95%CI = 37%-75%]), with sustainable improvement observed throughout an extension phase (>60 weeks). Common adverse events were
edema (44%),
nausea (44%),
muscle spasms (28%), and
rash (28%), the majority of which were of mild or moderate severity with a significant decline in frequency observed after 12 weeks of treatment. One patient experienced a serious adverse event of reversible
agranulocytosis.
Masitinib is a promising treatment for indolent forms of
mastocytosis with handicap and indicates acceptable tolerability for long-term treatment regimens.