Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are oral targeted therapies that block the signalling enzymes cancer cells use to grow and divide. Imatinib was the first, turning chronic myeloid leukaemia from a fatal disease into a manageable one and proving that targeting a specific molecular driver could work. Later TKIs hit different kinases — or several at once — which is why they are used across leukaemias, kidney, liver and thyroid cancers.
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Plain-English summaries and drug-class explainers are written and reviewed by the Priya Life Science editorial team, led by Sreepriya Prasannan (MSc Digital Transformation of Life Sciences (Innopharma Education / Griffith College); MSc & BSc Botany). Data is retrieved automatically from the sources above and cross-checked with AI-assisted verification (Anthropic's Claude) — brand and generic names are matched against the exact FDA product record so that a combination product or a different formulation cannot be mistaken for the drug on this page. An editor reviews the result before publication. We describe this in full in our editorial standards and corrections policy. The FDA data on this page was last retrieved on 9 Aug 2026.