title: Chronic myelogenous leukemia: monitoring response to therapy.
abstract: Molecular monitoring is a key component of the management of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. The current recommendation is that molecular monitoring be performed in place of cytogenetic assessment when a major molecular response (MMR) is achieved. With the more potent kinase inhibitors nilotinib and dasatinib now approved as front-line therapy, more patients will achieve an MMR and will benefit from molecular monitoring. There is a strong correlation between certain BCR-ABL1 levels and the cytogenetic response, which means that molecular monitoring may act as a surrogate for cytogenetic response, but only if the BCR-ABL1 values are converted to the international reporting scale. Furthermore, improvements in the limit of BCR-ABL1 detection and reduction of intra-assay variability are ongoing issues of importance for molecular monitoring. Standardization of molecular methods to accurately assess the patient response also remains a challenge, despite the recent certification of international scale reference materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, SA Pathology and the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. susan.branford@health.sa.gov.au
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Branford
authors.forename: Jodi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prime
mesh_terms: D001549:Benzamides; D000069439:Dasatinib; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D001549:Benzamides; D010879:Piperazines; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011743:Pyrimidines; D013844:Thiazoles; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; C498826:nilotinib; D000069439:Dasatinib