Late response to low-dose imatinib in patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia.
Imatinib was the first BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor to become clinically available. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the long-term efficacy of low-dose imatinib (final maintenance dose <300 mg per day) due to intolerance, in comparison to optimal-dose imatinib (≥300 mg per day) in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of the median time to complete cytogenetic response, major molecular response, and complete molecular response were longer for 31 patients receiving low-dose imatinib (360, 1360, and 1420 days, respectively) than 74 patients receiving optimal-dose imatinib (170, 420, and 720 days, respectively). However, the differences in response shrank over time and progression-free survival were comparable between the two groups. These findings suggest that long-term treatment with low-dose imatinib is an acceptable alternative for patients with intolerance to the optimal dose.
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Kanazawa University Hospital, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa 920-8641, Japan. takami@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Akiyoshi
A
Takami
Shigeki
S
Ohtake
Eriko
E
Morishita
Yasushi
Y
Terasaki
Toshihiro
T
Fukushima
Toshiro
T
Kurokawa
Naomi
N
Sugimori
Sadaya
S
Matano
Kinya
K
Ohata
Chizuru
C
Saito
Masaki
M
Yamaguchi
Kohei
K
Hosokawa
Hirohito
H
Yamazaki
Yukio
Y
Kondo
Shinji
S
Nakao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001549:Benzamides; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D015466:Leukemia, Myeloid, Chronic-Phase / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010879:Piperazines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001549:Benzamides; D010879:Piperazines; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011743:Pyrimidines; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate