Glivec Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Glivec, including details on gleevec, imatinib, cancer, treatment, side-effects.

Impact of imatinib therapy on the use of allogeneic haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Giralt SA, Arora M, Goldman JM, Lee SJ, Maziarz RT, McCarthy PL, Sobocinski KA, Horowitz MM,

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77230, USA. sgiralt@mdanderson.org

The discovery and approval of imatinib drastically changed the therapeutic algorithm for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). Imatinib is now considered the therapy of choice for patients with newly diagnosed CML, including those previously considered candidates for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). We compared numbers and types of allogeneic HCTs performed for CML in North America before and after the introduction of imatinib, and publication of the International Randomized Trial of Interferon and STI571 (IRIS) using transplants reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). The number of HCTs for CML registered with the CIBMTR in 1998 was 617; 62% were performed in first chronic phase (CP1). Only 1% of patients had received imatinib prior to transplantation. In 2003, the number of HCTs reported was 223; 44% were performed in CP1 and 77% of patients received imatinib prior to transplantation. The introduction of imatinib therapy has had a profound impact on the use of allogeneic transplantation for CML, with a marked decrease in the number of transplants for CML and an accompanying decrease in the proportion done in CP1. Most patients now receive a trial of imatinib before proceeding to HCT.

Published 9 May 2007 in Br J Haematol, 137(5): 461-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Glivec Research Today. All Rights Reserved.