title: Imatinib (ST1571) provides only limited selectivity for CML cells and treatment might be complicated by silent BCR-ABL genes.
abstract: Very promising results have been obtained in clinical trials on chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CP-CML) patients treated with imatinib mesylate (IM; Gleevecr, STI571), a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor. However, we found that IM caused considerable inhibition of normal hematopoietic progenitor cells upon treating control bone marrow (BM) cultures. In vitro IM treatment gave a decrease in the yield and size of colonies from BM of untreated CP-CML patients that was only two to three times that from the normal samples. Moreover, about 30% of myeloid progenitors (CFU-GM) from CML BM still formed colonies in the presence of IM, most of which had BCR-ABL RNA. About half of these treated colonies also displayed methylation of the internal ABL Pa promoter, a CML-specific epigenetic alteration, which was used in this study as a marker for BCR-ABL translocation-containing cells. However, ~5-8% of the treated or the untreated CML BM-derived colonies had no detectable BCR-ABL RNA by two or three rounds of RT-PCR despite being positive for the internal standard RNA and displaying hallmarks of CML, either t(9;22)(q34;ql 1) or ABL Pa methylation. Our results indicate that IM is only partially specific for CML progenitor cells compared to normal hematopoietic progenitor cells and suggest that some CML cells may have a silent BCR-ABL oncogene that could interfere with therapy.
authors.affiliation: Tulane Cancer Center and Humon Genetics Program, Tulane Medical School, New Orleans, Lousiana 70112, USA.
authors.forename: Guanchao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weissbecker
authors.forename: Sherrie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Vincent F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: La Russa
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Safah
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
mesh_terms: D001549:Benzamides; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 / Q000235:genetics; D002899:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9 / Q000235:genetics; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000187:drug effects*; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007621:Karyotyping; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D010879:Piperazines; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D001549:Benzamides; D010879:Piperazines; D011743:Pyrimidines; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl