Is it possible to use imatinib intermittent therapy in elderly CML patients?

Recently, researchers from the University of Brescia in Italy have found that intermittent therapy with imatinib can be performed in elderly Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients who have been carefully screened for stable, complete cytogenetic relief (CCgR). Markers that affect residual disease but do not affect clinical outcomes (overall and progression-free survival).

In order to validate the effectiveness of intermittent imatinib therapy (one-month use and one-month disablement), this single-arm study recruited 76 Philadelphia chromosome positive (PH1), BCR-ABL positive individuals aged 65 or above. In patients, these patients had been treated with imatinib for more than 2 years and had achieved a stable complete cytogenetic response (CCgR) and a major molecular response (MMR).

The study found that in the shortest 4-year follow-up period, 13 patients (17%) lost CCgR and MMR, while 14 (18%) only lost MMR. All of these patients resumed continuous imatinib therapy and all but one patient lost follow-up, and all recovered CCgR and MMR. In the study, no patient progressed to the accelerated phase, or blast phase, or developed a chromosome chromosomal abnormality or BCR-ABL mutation in Philadelphia chromosomal cells.