title: Operational cures after interferon-alpha in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in Central and Northern Moravia.
abstract: We assessed long-term outcome of 118 consecutive patients in chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) in the Central and Northern Moravia region between 1989 and 2006 with focus on operational cure. The median follow-up was 82.6 months (range 12.4-212.6). Eighteen (15.3%) patients achieved complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) after median 16.7 (3.7-40.8) months. Nine of these patients (7.6%) achieved BCR-ABL negativity in nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction ["complete" molecular response (CMR)] and 6 of them have been operationally cured without any treatment for median 6 (4-10) years, while 2 continue with IFN-α and 1 died from CML-unrelated cause. Operationally cured patients had a significantly lower percentage of initial peripheral promyelocytes, blasts, and erythroblasts than the rest of patients treated for more than 12 months (P=0.01-0.03). Unlike patients with sole CCyR, the majority of whom lost CCyR despite continuing IFN-α therapy and required imatinib, patients who achieved CMR had excellent long-term outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hemato-Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic. edgar.faber@fnol.cz
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuba
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zapletalová
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Divoká
authors.forename: Šárka
authors.initials: Š
authors.lastname: Rožmanová
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rohoň
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holzerová
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jarošová
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Indrák
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D018153:Czech Republic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D023461:Myeloid Progenitor Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D057089:Pathology, Molecular; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl