For research and educational purposes only. Not medical advice.

Dasatinib Reference

Educational, not medical advice reference for Dasatinib: Longevity; regulatory status, evidence posture, source review, and schedule notes. Also…

Plain English

What it is
Dasatinib (sold as Sprycel) is a prescription chemotherapy pill. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it back in 2006 to treat certain leukemias, which are cancers of the blood and bone marrow.
What people use it for
Its approved job is fighting chronic myeloid leukemia and a related blood cancer. In the longevity community some people use it off-label, paired with a plant compound called quercetin (the so-called D plus Q combo), as a 'senolytic' meant to clear out worn-out, aging cells. That anti-aging use is experimental and is not an FDA-approved use.
What the science shows
The cancer evidence is large and well established. The anti-aging senolytic evidence in people is thin: just a few small, early pilot studies in lung scarring, kidney disease, and memory loss, with no large outcome trial showing it actually slows aging or extends healthy life.
The catch
This is a serious cancer chemotherapy drug, not a casual supplement. Its label warns it can cause dangerously low blood counts, serious or even fatal bleeding, fluid buildup around the lungs, high blood pressure in the lung arteries, heart-rhythm changes, and liver harm. Using it for anti-aging without a cancer doctor's supervision and regular monitoring is unproven and carries real risk.

Reference summary

Off-label senolytic interest centers on the Justice 2019 EBioMedicine first-in-human pilot in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n=14, open-label, 9 days of D+Q intermittent dosing reported improvements in physical function measures) and the Hickson 2019 EBioMedicine pilot in diabetic kidney disease (n=9, reduced senescent-cell burden in adipose tissue and skin biopsies). Both are small, early-phase, surrogate-endpoint trials. The on-label CML/ALL evidence base is large and mature but is a different clinical use case.

Regulatory and posture

Categories
Longevity
Aliases
Sprycel, BMS-354825, Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (small molecule, not a peptide), Component of the D+Q senolytic combination
Evidence posture
human - Off-label senolytic use rests on two small open-label pilots; no Phase 3 outcome trial exists. The on-label CML/ALL profile includes a substantial adverse-event burden (myelosuppression, pleural effusion, pulmonary hypertension) that is part of the oncology prescribing record.
Regulatory status
FDA-approved as Sprycel (2006) as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Prescription oncology drug. Off-label use as a senolytic in combination with quercetin (the D+Q combination) is investigational and is not on the FDA label.
Content review status
label verified

Selected public sources

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