title: Does a rise in the BCR-ABL1 transcript level identify chronic phase CML patients responding to imatinib who have a high risk of cytogenetic relapse?
abstract: BCR-ABL1 transcript numbers were monitored in 161 patients who started treatment with imatinib early after diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia in chronic phase and achieved complete cytogenetic responses (CCyR). A confirmed doubling in BCR-ABL1/ABL1 transcript levels was found to be a significant factor for predicting loss of CCyR [relative risk (RR) 8.3, P < 0.0001] and progression to advanced phase (RR 0.07, P = 0.03) provided that the eventual BCR-ABL1/ABL1 transcript level exceeded 0.05%; increases that never exceeded 0.05% had no predictive value. The finding of a kinase domain mutation in a patient in CCyR, though rare, also predicted for loss of CCyR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Hammersmith Hospitals Trust, Imperial College London, London, UK. d.marin@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marin
authors.forename: Jamshid S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Khorashad
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Foroni
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Milojkovic
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Szydlo
authors.forename: Alistair G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Katayoun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rezvani
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bua
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Jane F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Apperley