ABSTRACT
Imatinib is the frontline therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) management. Most of the CML patients achieve major responses, but a proportion (nearly 25-35%) of them develop drug resistance. Molecular monitoring using quantitative real-time PCR at regular intervals according to European LeukemiaNet (ELN) helps in the assessment of long-term outcomes in imatinib-treated CML patients. Eighty-four CML patient samples (42 at diagnosis and 42 at 3-month intervals from the same patients) were analyzed for Bcr-Abl transcript levels. Quantification results revealed that the patients with <10% Bcr-Abl levels at 3 months had higher rates of complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and optimal responses compared to patients with >10% Bcr-Abl levels (P < 0.0001). Patients with >10% Bcr-Abl levels were found to have 25.0% of suboptimal response and 3.57% of failure to imatinib at standard dose. Hence, the present study confirms that early molecular monitoring at 3 months after imatinib initiation helps in predicting the concurrent cytogenetic response and treatment optimization in CML patients.
