Dr. Jerald P. Radich on Treatment Considerations with Generic Imatinib in CML

Jerald P. Radich, MD, clinical research division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses which patients should receive the newly approval generic imatinib versus second-generation tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

It is important that oncologists are proactive in determining which patients should receive generic imatinib and not be registered by insurance companies, says Radich.

The NCCN guidelines are somewhat generic, and so oncologists need to look at each patient individually and, based on treatment goals, determined if they should receive generic imatinib or second-generation TKIs. Age may be a factor to consider, says Radich.