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A population study of imatinib in chronic myeloid leukaemia demonstrates lower efficacy than in clinical trials

Leukemia volume 22, pages 1963–1966 (2008)Cite this article

Imatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has undoubtedly saved and improved the quality of lives of many thousands of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). It has become the treatment of choice for newly diagnosed patients in chronic phase, and a recent report suggests that modern drug treatment may produce superior results to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT).1 The imatinib-treated cohort within the International Randomized Study of Interferon and STI571 (IRIS) has provided valuable information on the longer term effects of imatinib treatment. On 400 mg daily, the overall survival at 5 years is 89%.2 Furthermore, the IRIS data suggest that the rate of disease progression may decrease with time. However, these data are derived from a clinical trial, and it is therefore important to establish if these results can be reproduced in a more general CML population. Here we present the results of a population-based study of CML treated with 400 mg daily imatinib in our health-care area.

In our area of the North West of England, the adjacent North Wales coastal strip and the Isle of Man (total population 2 million), all services for adults with haematological cancer are located at 12 hospitals. Molecular diagnosis of CML and monitoring for BCR-ABL transcripts are carried out at a single centre (RLUH) for all CML patients in this geographical area. We are therefore able to trace the clinical course of every CML patient in our area.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr RJ Harris for all his help and support during this project. REC has received research support and has participated in advisory boards for Novartis. No author has any competing financial interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Haematology, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Prescot St, Liverpool, UK

    C M Lucas, L Wang, G M Austin, K Knight, S J Watmough & R E Clark

  2. Department of Haematology, Warrington Hospital, Warrington, Cheshire, UK

    K H Shwe

  3. Department of Haematology, Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool, UK

    R Dasgupta

  4. Department of Haematology, Arrowe Park Hospital, Upton, Wirral, Merseyside, UK

    Nauman M Butt & D Galvani

  5. Department of Haematology, Ysbyty Glan Clywd, Rhyl, Denbighshire, UK

    C F Hoyle

  6. Department of Haematology, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK

    J R C Seale

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  1. C M Lucas
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  2. L Wang
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  3. G M Austin
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  10. C F Hoyle
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  11. J R C Seale
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  12. R E Clark
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Correspondence to R E Clark.

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Lucas, C., Wang, L., Austin, G. et al. A population study of imatinib in chronic myeloid leukaemia demonstrates lower efficacy than in clinical trials. Leukemia 22, 1963–1966 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2008.225

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