Progress in therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from related or unrelated donors remains the only potentially curative treatment option in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This procedure is limited by the availability of the donor and toxicity, especially in older patients. Introduction of signal transduction inhibitor — imatinib in the management of CML has revised the choice of therapy for newly diagnosed patients. Results of the Phase III study showed 96% complete hematologic and 76.2% complete cytogenetic responses. However, only a minority of imatinib-treated patients achieved molecular remission and definite conclusions cannot be made at this time. Treatment with alpha-interferon (IFN-α) prolongs survival by approximately 2 years as compared with conventional chemotherapy. The response rate is better if the treatment with IFN-α is combined with low dose of cytarabine. Conventional chemotherapy with hydroxyurea or busulfan is a cytoreductive therapy, which does not significantly modify the natural course of the disease.