Application of fluorescence in situ hybridization technique to verify the clonalities of non-clonal cytogenetic abnormalities identified in Myelodysplastic syndrome / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique for the verification of the clonalities of non-clonal cytogenetic abnormalities (n-CCA) identified by conventional chromosome banding analysis (CBA) in patients with Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).@*METHODS@#Clinical data and results of karyotyping and FISH assays for 91 patients of MDS with n-CCA identified by CBA were retrospectively analyzed. In total 94 non-clonal +8, 5q-, -7/7q- or 20q- were detected by CBA, among which 43 (45.7%) were verified to be clonal abnormalities by FISH.@*RESULTS@#The detection rates for +8, 5q-, -7/7q- and 20q- by FISH were 47.6% (30/63), 25% (2/8), 41.7% (5/12), 40% (2/5) and 66.7% (4/6), respectively, with the positive cells accounting for 4% to 90% of all counted cells, with a median value of 7%. The 91 patients were divided into three groups including ≥ 20, 10 ~< 20 and < 10 based on the numbers of metaphase cells in CBA, and the detection rates by FISH for the three groups were 43.7% (31/71), 33.3% (3/9) and 63.6% (7/11), respectively, which showed no statistically difference (P > 0.05). Continuous CBA and FISH surveys were conducted for 26 patients who received supportive treatment, and the results revealed that 91.7% (11/12) of FISH-verified positive abnormalities had persisted, whereas 92.9% (13/14) of the n-CCA verified as negative by FISH was transient.@*CONCLUSION@#Nearly half of the CBA identified n-CCA have been verified as clonal aberrations by FISH, and the FISH detection rate showed no correlation with the number of metaphase cells. FISH test is strongly recommended for verifying the clonalities of n-CCA detected by CBA, and continuous cytogenetic survey of the patients with MDS is necessary.

Analysis of the efficacy and influencing factors of nilotinib or dasatinib as second- or third-line treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase and accelerated phase / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To explore the efficacy and prognosis of nilotinib or dasatinib as second- or third-line treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase (CP) and accelerated phase (AP) .@*Methods@#From January 2008 to November 2018, the data of CML patients who failed first- or second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) -therapy received nilotinib or dasatinib as second-line and third-line therapy were retrospectively reviewed.@*Results@#A total of 226 patients receiving nilotinib or dastinib as second-line (n=183) and third-line (n=43) therapy were included in this study. With a median follow-up of 21 (range, 1-135) months, the cumulative rates of complete hematological response (CHR) , complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and major molecular response (MMR) were 80.4%, 56.3%and 38.3%, respectively in those receiving TKI as second-line TKI therapy. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 78.7%and 93.1%, respectively. Multivariate analyses showed that Sokal high risk, female gender, the best response achieved <CHR on the first-line TKI-therapy, the interval from diagnosis to switching to second-line TKI ≥18 months, AP or hematologic failure, or non-specific mutation of BCR-ABL kinase domain before second-line TKI therapy, developing severe hematologic toxicity during the second-line TKI therapy were variables associated with poor responses or outcomes on second-line TKI therapy. With a median follow-up of 6 (range, 3-129) months, the cumulative CHR, CCyR and MMR were 95.7%, 29.3%, and 18.6%, respectively in those receiving the third-line TKI therapy. The 2-year PFS and OS rates were 66.8% and 93.8%, respectively. The patients with an interval from diagnosis to starting TKI ≥6 months, achieving no cytogenetic response on the second-line TKI, the interval from diagnosis to starting second-line TKI ≥60 months, and progression to AP before the third-line TKI therapy had lower probabilities of responses and unfavorable outcomes.@*Conclusions@#The efficacy of dasatinib and nilotinib as second- or third-line TKI-therapy were active in the CML patients with TKI-resistance. The best response achieved on previous TKI-therapy, the disease phase before switching TKI, and the severe hematologic toxicity developing on the current TKI-therapy were associated with the responses and outcomes.

Evolvement of a five-way translocation t(5;9;22;6;17) from a four-way Philadelphia translocation t(5;9;22;6) in a rare case of chronic myeloid leukemia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To trace a rare case of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with a four-way Philadelphia chromosome variant by cytogenetic analysis in order to provide a basis for the selection of treatment.@*METHODS@#Bone marrow morphology, chromosomal karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) were used for the diagnosis and staging of the disease. Point mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of ABL1 gene were detected by Sanger sequencing.@*RESULTS@#The patient was initially diagnosed as CML in chronic phase (CML-CP) with a chromosomal karyotype of 46,XX,t(5;9;22;6)(q13;q34;q11;q25), while FISH revealed presence of a variant Philadelphia chromosome translocation. Clonal evolution has occurred after 38 months of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment, when cytogenetic analysis revealed coexisting t(5;9;22;6)(q13;q34;q11;q25) and t(5;9;22;6;17)(q13;q34;q11;q25;q11). After 57 months of TKIs treatment, only the t(5;9;22;6;17) clone was detected. Three months later, hyperdiploidy with additional abnormalities were detected in addition to t(5;9;22;6;17). Three mutations, including p.Tyr253Phe, p.Thr315Ile and p.Gly250Glu, were identified in the tyrosine kinase domain of the ABL1 gene during the course of disease. The patient did not attain cytogenetic and molecular response to TKIs.@*CONCLUSION@#The four-way variant translocation may be genetically unstable. Clonal evolution and genetic mutations are likely to occur during TKIs treatment, resulting in poor response to drug therapy. This observation, however, needs to be confirmed by large-scale studies.

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of Chinese generic imatinib and branded imatinib in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in consideration of demographic characteristics / 中华血液学杂志

Objectives@#To compare the efficacy and safety of Chinese generic imatinib with branded imatinib as frontline therapy in adults with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP) (Frontline group) , and to explore the efficacy and safety of Chinese generic imatinib in CML-CP patients switching from branded imatinib (Switching group) .@*Methods@#Frontline group: Data of adults with newly diagnosed CML-CP receiving Chinese generic imatinib (Xinwei®) or branded imatinib (Glivec®) between October 2013 and August 2018 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Switching group: Data of adults diagnosed with CML-CP who received branded imatinib and then switched to Chinese generic imatinib after achieving at least complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) were retrospectively collected and analyzed.@*Results@#Frontline group: In total, 409 adult patients receiving Chinese generic imatinib (n=201) or Glivec (n=208) were included in this study. Median age was 42 years (range, 18-83 years) . Comparison of baseline showed significant difference on demographic characteristics among two cohorts: lower education level (P<0.001) , and divorced or widowed status (P=0.004) and rural household registration (P<0.001) were more common in the generic imatinib cohort than those in the Glivec cohort. There was no significant difference on age, gender, Sokal risk score, WBC and HGB between the 2 cohorts. With a median follow-up of 25 months (range, 3-62 months) , there was no significant difference on the 3-year cumulative incidence of achieving CCyR (97.5% vs 94.5%, P=0.592) , major molecular response (MMR) (84.3% vs 93.1%, P=0.208) , molecular response4.0 (MR4.0) (42.7% vs 41.7%, P=0.277) , molecular response4.5 (MR4.5) (25.4% vs 33.0%, P=0.306) as well as the 3-year probabilities of failure free survival (FFS) (76.7% vs 81.0%, P=0.448) , progression free survival (PFS) (91.8% vs 96.3%, P=0.325) and overall survival (OS) (95.8% vs 98.5%, P=0.167) between the generic and branded imatinib cohorts. Multivariate analysis showed the type of imatinib was not associated with treatment responses and outcomes. The incidences of adverse effects were comparable in the 2 cohorts. Switching group: In total, 39 patients switching from branded imatinib to Chinese generic imatinib after achieving at least CCyR were included in this study. Median age was 42 years (range, 23-80 years) . With a median follow-up of 39 months (range, 6-63 months) , molecular responses were maintained in 23 (58.9%) patients and improved in 12 (39.8%) patients. Adverse effects were tolerable.@*Conclusion@#Demographic characteristics might influence the choice of the type of TKI used in CML-CP patients. There was a comparable efficacy and safety between the Chinese generic imatinib and the branded imatinib in adults with newly diagnosed CML-CP under standard management and closely monitoring. Patients could safely switch from the branded imatinib to the Chinese generic imatinib.

Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloid neoplasms in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia during tyrosine kinase inhibtor-therapy / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To compare the clinical features between the 2 cohorts developing myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeIogenous Ieukemia in Philadelphia chromosome-negative cells (Ph- MDS/AML) and maintaining disease stable in the patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid Ieukemia (Ph+ CML) who had clonal chromosomal abnormalities in Philadelphia chromosome-negative metaphases (CCA/Ph-) during tyrosine kinase inhibtor (TKI) - therapy.@*Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed Ph+ CML patients who developed CCA/Ph- during TKI-therapy from May 2001 to December 2017.@*Results@#Data of CCA/Ph- 63 patients, including 7 progressing to Ph- MDS/AML and 56 remaining disease stable were collected. Compared with those with stable disease, patients with Ph-MDS/AML had lower hemoglobin (P=0.007) and platelet (P=0.006) counts, and higher proportion of peripheral blasts (P<0.001) when the first time CCA/Ph- was detected, and more mosonomy 7 abnormality (5/7, 71.4%) when MDS or AML was diagnosed; meanwhile, trisomy 8 (32/56, 57.1%) was more common in those with stable disease. Outcome of the patients with Ph- MDS/AML were poor. However, most of those with CCA/Ph- and stable disease had optimal response on TKI-therapy.@*Conclusions@#A few patients with Ph+ CML developed CCA/Ph- during TKI-therapy, most of them had stable disease, but very few patients developed Ph- MDS/AML with more common occurrence of monosomy 7 or unknown cytopenia. Our data suggested the significance of monitoring of peripheral blood smear, bone marrow morphology and cytogenetic analysis once monosomy 7 or unknown cytopenia occurred.

Severe hematologic toxicity and its impact on treatment response in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia receiving tyrosine kinase-inhibitor therapy / 中华血液学杂志

Objectives@#To explore the incidence and factors of severe leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) to probe their impacts on cytogenetic and molecular responses, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) .@*Methods@#Data of newly diagnosed patients with CML in the chronic phase (CP) and/or accelerated phase (AP) were retrospectively collected and analyzed.@*Results@#855 CML patients [including 744 (87%) in the CP and 111 (13.0%) in the AP] were included in this study. 523 (61.2%) patients were male with a median age of 39 years (range, 14-87 years) . 749 (87.6%) patients received imatinib, 93 (10.9%) nilotinib, and 13 (1.5%) dasatinib, respectively as front-line therapy. At a median treatment of 1 month (range, 0.1-7.0 months) , 137 (16.0%) developed ≥grade 3 leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia and recovered 0.6 month (range, 0.3-6.5 months) . Multivariate analysis showed that female gender (OR=1.5, 95%CI 1.0-2.2, P=0.033) , WBC ≥100×109/L (OR=1.9, 95%CI 1.3-2.8, P=0.001) , CP in Sokal high-risk (OR=2.2, 95%CI 1.2-3.9, P=0.005) , AP with ≥15% blast cells in blood or bone marrow (OR=5.1, 95%CI 1.9-13.3, P=0.001) were factors associated with higher incidence of ≥grade 3 leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia. Severe leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia with time of drug discontinuance >2 weeks was associated with lower probabilities of achieving complete cytogenetic (OR=0.4, 95%CI 0.3-0.6, P<0.001) , severe leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia, no matter the time of drug discontinuance >2 weeks or ≤2 weeks, were associated with lower probabilities of achieving major molecular responses (OR=0.3, 95%CI 0.2-0.5, P<0.001; OR=0.7, 95%CI 0.5-1.0, P=0.036) and MR4.5 (OR=0.2, 95%CI 0.1-0.5, P=0.002; OR=0.7, 95%CI 0.4-1.1, P=0.110) ; however, those had no impacts on PFS and OS.@*Conclusions@#Severe leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia were common adverse events during TKI therapy. Female patients, WBC ≥100×109/L at diagnosed, CP in Sokal high-risk, CML-AP with ≥15% blast cells in blood or bone marrow were at high risk for higher incidence of severe leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia. Those severe adverse events had impacts on lower cytogenetic and molecular response.

Clinical analysis of myeloid neoplasms with t (3;21) (q26;q22) / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To analyze the characteristics of myeloid neoplasms with t (3;21) (q26;q22) .@*Methods@#Clinical data of patients with t (3; 21) (q26; q22) , diagnosed as hematologic malignancies in Peking University people's hospital from January 2011 to March 2018, were collected retrospectively. 19 patients in our hospital and forty-eight patients bearing t (3;21) (q26;q22) with detailed survival data reported in literature were summarized. Kaplan- Meier method was used for survival analysis.@*Results@#Among 19 patients, including 15 males and 4 females with a median age of 36 years (22-68 years) , 4 cases was diagnosed as de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) , 4 as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) , 3 as MDS-AML and 8 as chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in myeloid blast transformation. All of the 19 patients were detected to have t (3;21) (q26;q22) by G-banding technique and 13 carried additional cytogenetic aberrations. 9 of the 19 patients were detected for positive AML1-MDS1 fusion genes. In the 9 patients with detailed follow-up data, 6 patients received chemotherapy and only 2 achieved complete remission (CR) while 4 with no response. During the follow-up period, 8 patients died and the median overall survival (OS) was 6 months (4.5 to 22 months) . Survival analysis of the present 9 patients together with the literature data showed that the prognosis was poor and the median OS was 7 months. In particular, AML/t-AML had the worst prognosis. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) could significantly improve survival, the median OS in HSCT group and non-HSCT group were 20.9 and 4.7 months respectively (P<0.001) .@*Conclusions@#t (3; 21) (q26; q22) is a rare recurrent chromosomal abnormality which is detected mainly in myeloid neoplasm and confer to poor clinical prognosis. HSCT should be recommended to improve the outcomes.

Comparison of nilotinib vs imatinib as frontline therapy in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To compare the cytogenetic and molecular responses, outcomes and severe hematologic toxicity of nilotinib and imatinib as frontline therapy in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP) .@*Methods@#Newly diagnosed CML-CP patients were consecutively recruited from January 2006 to December 2018 who received nilotinib and imatinib as first-line treatment. Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.@*Results@#A total of 524 patients were classified into 439 (83.8%) receiving imatinib and 85 (16.2%) receiving nilotinib. Comparing with imatinib group, patients in nilotinib group were much younger (P=0.019) and more with intermediate and high Sokal risks (P<0.001) , WBC ≥100×109/L (P<0.001) , HGB<120 g/L (P<0.001) , blast cells in bone marrow (P=0.026) , splenomegaly (P<0.001) by physical examination at diagnosis, and longer interval from diagnosis to TKI treatment (P=0.003) . With a median TKI duration of 57 (range 3-153) months, the probabilities of complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) (P=0.011) , major molecular response (MMR) (P=0.001) and MR4.5 (P=0.046) were much higher in nilotinib group than those in imatnib according to each risk group. There is no statistical significance on probabilities of failure free survival (FFS) , progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) at 6 years between the two groups. Multivariate analyses showed that imatinib was an adverse factor associated with achieving CCyR (OR=0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.8, P=0.001) , MMR (OR=0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.9, P=0.032) and MR4.5 (OR=0.6, 95%CI 0.5-0.9, P=0.032) and poor FFS (OR=1.9, 95%CI 1.0-3.4, P=0.041) . In addition, Sokal score was an independent factor affecting cytogenetic and molecular responses, treatment failure, disease progression and survival. Male, WBC ≥100×109/L or HGB<120 g/L at diagnosis were significantly associated with lower cytogenetic and molecular response rates and/or poor FFS. The severe hematologic adverse events were not associated with different TKIs.@*Conclusions@#Nilotinib reaches to the faster and deeper cytogenetic and molecular responses and significantly improves FFS than imatinib in newly diagnosed patients with CML-CP.

Fertility and disease outcomes in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To explore Fertility and disease outcomes in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) .@*Methods@#Clinical and fertility outcomes of male (from Jul. 1998 to Feb. 2018) and female CML (from Sep. 2009 to Feb. 2018) patients were retrospectively analyzed at Peking University People’s Hospital.@*Results@#A total of 49 male CML patients and their spouses were enrolled. Before their spouses conceived, 34 patients were receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib, 9 with nilotinib, and 6 with dasatinib. At the time of conception, the median age of these male patients was 32 years (range, 25-48 years) , and the median TKI treatment duration was 36 months (range, 0.2-198 months) . One male patient having achieved complete hematologic response yet discontinuing TKI for a year developed a disease progression to blast crisis. The other 48 patients sustained stable disease. The total conception times were 61 and finally 55 infants were born including one with premature birth, two with low birth weight, and one with hypospadias receiving surgery. The other 18 female patients after pregnancy were enrolled. Two patients developed spontaneous abortions. Two received induced abortions. Fourteen gave birth to healthy infants without congenital malformation. The interval from diagnosis of CML to initiation of TKI was 4 months (range, 0.3-16 months) . During a median follow-up of 45 months (range from 7-114 months) , the estimated complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) rate, major molecular response (MMR) rate and molecular response4.5 (MR4.5) rate by 5 years were 88.9%, 85.3% and 35.1%, respectively. The estimated failure-free survival, progression-free survival and overall survival were 64.2%, 90.9% and 90.9%, respectively. All 14 babies developed as normal.@*Conclusions@#It seems that TKIs do not affect pregnancy outcome in the spouses of male CML patients, suggesting that withdrawal of TKIs is not necessary. Female CML patients have good pregnancy and disease outcomes in the TKI era.

Observation on the efficacy of consolidation chemotherapy combined with allogeneic natural killer cell infusion in the treatment of low and moderate risk acute myeloid leukemia / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To evaluate the efficacy of consolidation chemotherapy combined with allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell infusion in the treatment of low or intermediate-risk (LIR) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) .@*Methods@#A cohort of 23 LIR AML patients at hematologic complete remission (CR) received NK cell transfusion combined with consolidation chemotherapy after 3 consolidation courses from January 2014 to June 2019 were reviewed. Control group cases were concurrent patients from Department of Hematology, and their gender, age, diagnosis, risk stratification of prognosis, CR and the number of courses of consolidate chemotherapy before NK cell transfusion were matched with LIR AML patients.@*Results@#A total of 45 times of NK cells were injected into 23 LIR AML patients during 4 to 7 courses of chemotherapy. The median NK cell infusion quantity was 7.5 (6.6-8.6) ×109/L, and the median survival rate of NK cells was 95.4% (93.9%-96.9%) . Among them, the median CD3-CD56+ cell number was 5.0 (1.4-6.4) ×109/L, accounting for 76.8% (30.8%-82.9%) ; The number of CD3+ CD56+ cells was 0.55 (0.24-1.74) ×109/L, accounting for 8.8% (4.9%-20.9%) . Before NK cell infusion, the number of patients with positive MRD in the treatment and control groups were 9/23 (39.1%) and 19/46 (41.3%) (χ2=0.030, P=0.862) respectively. After NK infusion, There was no significant difference in terms of MRD that went from negative to positive between the treatment and the control groups (14.3% vs 22.2%, χ2=0.037, P=0.847) . In the treatment group, 66.7% (6/9) of the MRD were converted from positive to negative, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (10.5%, 2/19) (χ2=6.811, P=0.009) . Morphological recurrence occurred in 1 case of MRD negative in the treatment group and 2 cases of MRD positive in the control group. By the end of follow-up, the median follow-up was 35 (10-59) months, the number of patients with morphological recurrence in the treatment group was 30.4% (7/23) , which was significantly lower than that in the control group (50.2%, 24/46) (χ2=2.929, P=0.087) , although there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. There was no significant difference on MRD-negative between the treatment and the control groups (43.5% vs 43.5%, χ2=1.045, P=0.307) . The 3-year leukemia-free survival was better in the treatment group [ (65.1±11.1) %] than that in the control group [ (50.0±7.4) %] (P=0.047) . The 3-year overall survival in the treatment and control groups were (78.1±10.2) % and (65.8±8.0) % (P=0.212) , respectively.@*Conclusion@#The consolidation of chemotherapy combined with allogeneic NK cell infusion contributed to the further remission of patients with LMR AML and the reduction of long-term recurrence.

Transformation from promyelocytic leukemia with t (15; 17) ( q22; q21) to acute monocytic leukemia with t (11; 17) (q23; q21) in a case / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To report on a case of therapy-related acute monocytic leukemia(t-AML) with t(11;17) (q23;q21)/MLL-AF17q after successful treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia(APL) with t(15;17) (q22;q21)/PML-RARα.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A MICM method (bone marrow morphology(M), immunophenotype(I), cytogenetics(C), and molecular biology(M)) was used for the diagnosis and classification of the disease at the time of onset and transformation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The patient was initially identified with typical morphology and immunophenotype of APL. She has carried t(15;17)(q22;q21) and PML-RARα fusion gene but was without t(11;17)(q23;q21) or MLL gene abnormalities. After 13 months of successful treatment, she has transformed to AML with typical morphology and immunophenotype. t(11;17)(q23;q21) and MLL-AF17q fusion gene were detected in her bone marrow sample, while no PLZF-RARα fusion gene was detected by real-time quantitative reverse-transcription PCR(RQ-PCR) and fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>t-AML is a serious complication after successful treatment of APL. t(11;17)(q23;q21) is not specific for the diagnosis of variant APL and can also be detected in t-AML. RQ-PCR and FISH are essential for the diagnosis of such patients.</p>

Comparative study of cytogenetic response evaluated by conventional banding analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization in chronic myeloid leukemia patients during tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment / 中华血液学杂志

Objective@#To compare the cytogenetic response detected by conventional banding analysis (CBA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and to explore the correlation between the cytogenetic and molecular response in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients during tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment.@*Methods@#CBA, FISH and real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) methods were performed to detect the cytogenetic and molecular response simultaneously in 504 bone marrow samples from 367 CML patients who received TKI treatment.@*Results@#Among 504 samples, 344 were detected to reach complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) by CBA, while 297 samples reached CCyR by FISH which were considered to carry BCR-ABL positive cells<1%. When the results of CBA, FISH and RQ-PCR were compared in 493 samples at the same time, it showed that in 337 samples with CBA-CCyR, 273 (81.0%) reached FISH-CCyR and 289 (85.8%) were BCR-ABLIS (International Scale, IS) ≤1% by RQ-PCR, compared to 9.0 (261/290) were BCR-ABLIS ≤1% among 290 samples with FISH-CCyR. There was no significant difference in the median value of BCR-ABLIS between samples in CBA-CCyR and FISH-CCyR (0.21% vs 0.13%, z=-1.875, P=0.061) . Furthermore, when the samples were divided into three groups according to BCR-ABL positive cells (0,>0~<1%, 1%~5%) by FISH, the statistical difference was observed, the proportion of samples with BCR-ABLIS ≤1% in the three groups were 94.1%, 57.6% and 27.7% respectively (χ2=43.499, P<0.001; χ2=9.734, P=0.003) , while the median value of BCR-ABLIS were 0.10%, 0.64% and 1.80% respectively (z=-5.864, P<0.001; z=-4.787, P<0.001) .@*Conclusion@#FISH results were in good concordance with CBA in identify samples in CCyR, FISH was more sensitive and had better correlation with RQ-PCR results than CBA, but how to define FISH-CCyR need further study.

A comparison of efficacy and safety between Chinese generic imatinib versus branded imatinib in patients with newly-diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase: a single-center prospective cohort study / 中华内科杂志

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety between Chinese generic imatinib (Xinwei(R),Jiansu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co.,Ltd.) versus branded imatinib (Glivec(R),Novartis) in patients with newly-diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP).Methods Patients with newly diagnosed CML-CP were enrolled and assigned to receive either Xinwei or Glivec at an initial dose of 400 mg/d according to patients' financial capability.The efficacy and adverse effects were evaluated.Results From January 2014 to September 2015,145 eligible patients were assigned to Xinwei (n =89) or Glivec (n =56) group.All patients were treated and followed up at least 3 months.At 3 months,the complete response rates were 95.5％ (85/89) and 100％ (56/56),major cytogenetic response rates were 74.2％ (66/89) and 80.4％ (45/56),and the proportions of achieving BCR-ALBIS ≤ 10％ were 76.1％ (67/88) and 82.1％ (46/56) in Xinwei and Glivec groups respectively (all P ＞0.05).With a median follow-up of 12 months,2 patients in each group progressed to accelerate or blast phase.Hematologic and non-hematologic side effects were similar between the 2 groups.Conclusions Early hematological,cytogenetic and molecular responses between Xinwei and Glivec are comparable in newly-diagnosed CML-CP patients.The progression rate and side effects are also similar between the 2 groups.

Dasatinib treatment based on BCR- ABL mutation detection in imatinib- resistant patients with chronic myeloid leukemia / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficiency of dasatinib as the second- or third-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)in imatinib-resistant patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)based on BCR-ABL mutation detection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>122 CML patients received dasatinib treatment, including 83 with imatinib-resistance and 39 with both imatinib- and nilotinib-resistance, 55 in the chronic-phase (CP), 21 in the accelerated- phase (AP)and 46 in the blast- phase (BP). Those harboring dasatinib highly- resistant mutations (T315I/A, F317L/V/C and V299L)were excluded based on BCR-ABL kinase domain mutation screening by Sanger sequencing at baseline. Hematologic, cytogenetic and molecular responses were evaluated regularly, and rates of progression-free-survival (PFS)and overall survival (OS)were analyzed. BCR- ABL mutation detection was performed once the patients failed on dasatinib.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the CP patients, the rates of complete hematological response (CHR), complete cytogenetic response (CCyR), major molecular response (MMR)and molecular response 4.5 (MR4.5)were 92.7%, 53.7%, 29.6% and 14.8%, respectively. 4-year PFS and OS rates were 84.4% and 89.5%, respectively. In the AP patients, HR and CCyR rates were 81.0% and 35.0%; and 3-year PFS and OS rates were 56.1% and 59.3%, respectively. In the BP patients, HR and CCyR rates were 63.0% and 21.4%; and 1-year PFS and OS rates were 43.6% and 61.8%, respectively. Outcomes were similar when dasatinib was used as the second- line TKI or the third-line TKI. Of the 75 patients who were resistant to dasatinib, 37 (48.7%)developed new mutation(s), and T315I (59.5%)was the most common mutation type. The patients who already harbored mutation(s)before dasatinib therapy achieved similar responses and outcomes to those with no mutation at baseline. However, they had higher likelihood of developing additional mutations associated with resistance to dasatinib (65.7%vs 34.1%,P=0.006).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Dasatinib was proved to be effective in the treatment of imatinib- or/and nilotinib-resistant CML patients, especially in both CP and AP cohorts. The significance of BCR-ABL mutation screening and monitoring should be highlighted before and during dasatinib therapy.</p>

Comparison of simultaneous bone marrow cytogenetic and peripheral blood molecular responses in chronic myeloid leukemia / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Compare the correlation and the concordance of simultaneous bone marrow cytogenetic and peripheral blood molecular responses in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) during tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1 030 pairs of simultaneous bone marrow and peripheral blood samples from 419 patients with CML during TKI treatment were analyzed with standard G-banding techniques and real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (Q-PCR).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The Spearman correlation coefficient for the paired analysis of the percentage of Ph- positive metaphases versus Q-PCR (BCR-ABL/ABL) values was 0.655 (n=1 030, P<0.01). There was a significant difference in terms of BCR-ABL values among all three cytogenetic response groups of no partial cytogenetic (no PCyR), partial cytogenetic (PCyR) and complete cytogenetic responses(CCyR) (P<0.01). 93.8% of the patients in CCyR had BCR-ABL≤1% [International Scale (IS)], and 97.5% of those with BCR-ABL≤0.1% (IS) were in CCyR. There was good concordance of 86.2% (888 of 1 030 samples) when BCR-ABL values according to cutoffs of BCR-ABL>10%(IS), ≤10%->1%(IS)and ≤1%(IS) were coupled with cytogenetic responses including no PCyR, PCyR and CCyR. Furthermore, 497 pairs of samples from 279 patients with newly diagnosed CML in chronic phase during the first year on TKI as first-line therapy were analyzed. Concordances between major cytogenetic response and BCR-ABL≤10%(IS) at 3 months, CCyR and BCR-ABL≤1%(IS) at 6 months and 12 months were 89%, 83.5% and 92.1%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There were significant correlation and concordance between cytogenetic and molecular responses, and some differences in assessment of early responses between using cytogenetic and molecular analyses in CML patients during TKI treatment.</p>

Bortezomib improves progression-free survival in multiple myeloma patients overexpressing preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Significant efforts have been made to identify factors that differentiate patients treated with novel therapies, such as bortezomib in multiple myeloma (MM). The exact expression pattern and prognostic value of the cancer/testis antigen preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) in MM are unknown and were explored in this study.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The transcript level of PRAME was detected in bone marrow specimens from 100 newly diagnosed MM patients using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and the prognostic value of PRAME was determined through retrospective survival analysis. PRAME expression higher than the upper limit of normal bone marrow was defined as PRAME overexpression or PRAME (+).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Sixty-two patients (62.0%) overexpressed PRAME. PRAME overexpression showed no prognostic significance to either overall survival (n = 100) or progression-free survival (PFS, n = 96, all P > 0.05) of patients. The patients were also categorized according to regimens with or without bortezomib. PRAME overexpression tended to be associated with a lower two-year PFS rate in patients treated with non-bortezomib-containing regimens (53.5% vs. 76.9%, P = 0.071). By contrast, it was not associated with the two-year PFS rate in patients with bortezomib-containing regimens (77.5% vs. 63.9%, P > 0.05). When the patients were categorized into PRAME (+) and PRAME (-) groups, treatment with bortezomibcontaining regimens predicted a higher two-year PFS rate in PRAME (+) patients (77.5% vs. 53.5%, P = 0.027) but showed no significant effect on two-year PFS rate in PRAME (-) patients (63.9% vs. 76.9%, P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PRAME overexpression might be an adverse prognostic factor of PFS in MM patients treated with non-bortezomib-containing regimens. Bortezomib improves PFS in patients overexpressing PRAME.</p>