Hair Depigmentation Is a Biological Readout for Pharmacological Inhibition of KIT in Mice and Humans

The document from 2003 describes a study that found hair depigmentation to be a useful biological marker for the inhibition of KIT, a protein involved in various cancers and inflammation, by the drug SU11248. In mice, the drug caused dose-dependent hair depigmentation that was reversible after stopping treatment, without affecting the number of KIT-positive melanocytes in hair follicles. This was also observed in human cancer patients, where periods of hair depigmentation corresponded with the drug treatment phases. The study did not specify the number of participants but highlighted the potential of hair depigmentation as a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring KIT inhibition in clinical settings.