Discussion:
Systemic mastocytosis is a rare disease which can be difficult to diagnose and stage, as seen in this patient who experienced symptoms for ten years before the official diagnosis was made. Although the bone marrow biopsy performed in 2013 was negative for KIT D816V mutation, this was likely a false negative as the assessment for that mutation was less sensitive at the time. For patients with indolent SM, treatment often involves symptom control. In this case, the patient was appropriately on an antihistamine, Cromolyn, and Omalizumab to decrease symptoms of mast cell overactivation. Despite more conservative treatment, she was still symptomatic, and treatment with other standard therapies for uncontrolled SM including imatinib and Midostaurin have been limited by transaminitis. Fortunately, she was able to tolerate Avapritinib. As of 2021 this medication has been approved by the US FDA for treatment of advanced SM. While Avapritinib has already been approved to treat aggressive SM, research is still being done on its use for indolent SM. For this patient, the oral multikinase inhibitor is highly effective against indolent SM, both in improving quality of life, decreasing symptoms, and effectively controlling serum tryptase levels. The dosage of 25mg daily of Avapritinib appears to be the ideal dosage for this patient, which also happens to be the same dose that is being studied in the PIONEER study that is investigating the safety and efficacy of avapritinib in patients with ISM with moderate-severe symptoms. Perhaps Avapritinib should be approved for use against the indolent form of systemic mastocytosis and not limited to the advanced type.