Hair depigmentation during chemotherapy with dasatinib, a dual Bcr-Abl/Src family tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Hair depigmentation has been shown to occur with disruption of the interaction between the ligand stem cell factor (SCF) with its class III receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit, also called the stem cell factor receptor. This article reports the case of a patient who experienced depigmentation of her eyelashes, eyebrows, and temporal scalp hair six-to-eight weeks after initiating treatment with dasatinib (BMS-354825 or Sprycel), a novel dual Bcr-Abl/Src family tyrosine kinase inhibitor for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This case illustrates a previously unreported side-effect of dasatinib that is most likely due to the drug's inhibition of the c-kit, Src family, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRbeta) tyrosine kinases. Further study of hair depigmentation as a side effect of multi-kinase inhibitors can provide useful information on hair and melanocyte physiology.