title: Treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia with interferon alpha (Roferon): results of the Israeli Study Group on CML.
abstract: Thirty patients with chronic myeloid leukemia from 11 Israeli medical centers entered this study. Their ages ranged from 16-65 (median 41) and time from diagnosis to treatment was 1-16 months (median 4 months). After cytoreductive therapy with hydroxyurea (22 patients) or busulphan (8 patients), patients received 9 million units/day of recombinant interferon alpha-2 alpha (Roferon A) subcutaneously. Side effects included arthralgia or low back pain in 7 patients, thrombocytopenia in 9, weight loss in four, neurologic disturbances in 4 and leukopenia in 3 cases. Seventeen patients achieved complete hematologic remission (CHR) and 6 partial hematologic remission (PHR). Six patients achieved major cytogenetic response, 4 of them lost all Ph1 chromosome positive cells and 4 had minimal cytogenetic response. Frequency of relapse was high: 8 patients with CHR and 6 with PHR relapsed, but patients with major cytogenetic response did not relapse. Patients who had received prior therapy with busulphan had a higher remission rate but a lower quality of cytogenetic response. Escalation of Roferon to 12 million units per day in relapsing or nonresponding patients induced PHR in 2/7. Neutralizing anti-interferon antibodies occurred in 7 relapsing or nonresponding patients. The cytoreductive induction with hydroxyurea enhanced the hematologic remissions to a median of 6 weeks. Further studies should define the role of combination therapy in order to improve response and prevent relapses.
authors.affiliation: Israeli CML Study Group, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shtalrid
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lugassy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosensaft
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berrebi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000917:Antibody Formation; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012074:Remission Induction; D015996:Survival Rate; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007155:Immunologic Factors; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D006918:Hydroxyurea