USA: Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Neurodegenerative Dementia

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as bosutinib could be an effective treatment for neurodegenerative dementia, suggests a recent study in the journal Neurology. According to the preliminary results, bosutinib use yielded an overall positive outcome after 1 year.

The class of medications known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as bosutinib has inspired interest in the pursuit of effective therapy for dementia. Kennedy D. Mahdavi, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, and colleagues present early findings regarding the treatment of dementia with or without parkinsonian features with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor bosutinib.

The study evaluated 15 patients without parkinsonian features and 16 patients with. Patients received bosutinib daily for 12 months, with an additional 12-month follow-up.

The Clinical Dementia Rating scale (as estimated by the Quick Dementia Rating System [QDRS]) was the primary cognitive status outcome measure. Secondary outcome measures included the Repeatable Battery Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.

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Safety and tolerability of bosutinib were confirmed among the study population (Mage = 73.7 years, SDage = 14 years).

Bosutinib was associated with less worsening in Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores (HR = −0.62,) and less decline in RBANS performance (HR = −3.42) during the year of treatment than population-based estimates of decline.

In the 24-month follow up, wherein 16 patients were observed after 1 year post-intervention, 31.2% of participants exhibited worsened CDR levels compared to their 12-month performances.

"Results support an overall positive outcome after 1 year of bosutinib. Larger randomized trials are required to determine optimal treatment regimens and direct relationships between treatment and neurodegeneration," concluded the authors.

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"Treatment of dementia with bosutinib: An open-label study of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor," is published in the journal Neurology.

DOI: https://cp.neurology.org/content/early/2020/09/09/CPJ.0000000000000918