title: Interferon therapy for Ph1 positive CML patients relapsing after T cell-depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: Eighteen chronic myeloid leukemia patients with hematological (four patients) or only cytogenetic (14 patients) relapse occurring after T cell-depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) have been treated with alpha 2b interferon (IFN) at a starting dose of 5 x 10(6) i.u./m2 subcutaneously three times a week. All four patients with hematological relapse achieved long-lasting hematological remission without reduction of bone marrow Ph1 positive cells. When IFN was started the median percentage of bone marrow Ph1-positive metaphases was 50% (range 9-100) for the 14 patients with cytogenetic relapse. Twelve (85.7%) of these patients are alive with a median follow-up of 25 months (range 20-37 months) from cytogenetic relapse and 33 months (range 27-49 months) from BMT. Six (43%) of the 14 patients progressed to hematological relapse and eight patients (57%) are still in hematological remission with two patients achieving complete cytogenetic remission confirmed at molecular level by disappearance of the M-BCR rearranged band. IFN therapy may be a good alternative to conventional chemotherapy for transplanted CML patients with hematological relapse and the treatment of choice for patients with a persistent cytogenetic relapse occurring after T cell-depleted BMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biopathology, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Arcese
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alimena
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lo Coco
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: De Cuia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Screnci
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Iori
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montefusco
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mandelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008297:Male; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012008:Recurrence; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D007370:Interferon Type I; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins