A must-read for patients: Can nintedanib be used to treat leukemia?

Nintedanib (Nintedanib), as a multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has certain pharmacological potential in the field of anti-tumor, but it has not yet been approved for the standard treatment of leukemia. Its main indications focus on pulmonary fibrosis diseases and some solid tumors (such as lung adenocarcinoma). Nintedanib acts on VEGFR, FGFR, PDGFR and other receptor pathways, playing a key role in anti-angiogenesis, anti-fibrosis and blocking cancer cell proliferation signaling in certain tumor tissues. However, leukemias, especially acute and chronic types, are mainly hematological malignancies, and their pathological mechanisms are more involved in specific chromosomal translocations, abnormal proliferation of leukemia stem cells, and myeloid or lymphoid differentiation disorders. There is a lack of direct and clear correlation between these pathological processes and the known targets of nintedanib.

The current mainstream leukemia treatments include chemotherapy, targeted therapy (such as imatinib for chronic myelogenous leukemiaBCR-ABL positive type), immunotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These treatment strategies are mostly based on the precise identification of specific gene mutations or receptors in leukemia cells, so the use of drugs needs to be highly matched based on molecular targets. In contrast, nintedanib is more suitable for controlling solid tumors and lung diseases where active angiogenesis or fibrosis is the main pathological feature, and has not yet shown a significant targeted inhibitory effect on leukemia cells.

Although nintedanib may have a certain role in regulating the leukemia microenvironment and inhibiting angiogenesis of certain supportive stromal cells in experimental studies or in vitro models, these potential effects have not been clinically verified and have not been included in international leukemia treatment guidelines. At the current stage, the use of nintedanib in leukemia is still within the scope of research, and there is no basis for recommendation. Clinical use must be extremely cautious.

Reference materials:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintedanib