title: Transient cytogenetic relapse in a Ph1-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia patient previously treated with alpha-interferon.
abstract: Therapy with alpha-interferon (IFN alpha) can suppress the Ph1-positive hemopoiesis in a percentage of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). We used IFN alpha to treat a 30-year-old CML patient, characterized by favourable prognostic signs (such as low leukocytosis, absence of splenomegaly and no increase in bone marrow blasts) at diagnosis, and obtained a complete remission, as evaluated by Southern blot and cytogenetic analysis, after one year of treatment. However, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed the persistence of a minimal residual disease. The IFN alpha therapy was stopped and the hematological status remained stable until eighteen months later, when a cytogenetic analysis revealed the appearance of a clone characterized by t(9;22) and trisomy 8, accounting for 30% of bone marrow metaphases. This cell population spontaneously regressed in the following months, before any cytotoxic treatment. However, as leukemic cells, detected by PCR, were still present, the patient received a high dose chemotherapy, which induced the complete eradication of the Ph1-positive clone, as demonstrated by the absence of bcr-abl transcript at the PCR reaction. Molecular and cytogenetic remission persist one year later, without any further therapy.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Oncologia Umana, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rege-Cambrin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guerrasio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scaravaglio
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carozzi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kerim
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saglio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007621:Karyotyping; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051562:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcr; D013997:Time Factors; D014314:Trisomy
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C496613:BCR protein, human; D051562:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcr