Comparison of the utility and applicability of the Sokal, Hasford, and EUTOS scores in a population of Chinese patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia undergoing imatinib therapy.

Abstract

BackgroundTyrosine kinase inhibitors are increasingly used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), but loss of complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) indicates treatment failure.AimTo compare the efficacy of Sokal, European Treatment Outcome Study (EUTOS), and Hasford prognostic scores with 3-month and 12-month CCyR, event-free survival (EFS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with chronic-phase CML (CP-CML) undergoing imatinib therapy.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the outcome of 210 patients with CP-CML treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University treated between January 2006 and December 2013. Sokal, EUTOS, and Hasford scores were compared with 3-month and 12-month CCyR, EFS, and PFS.ResultsKaplan–Meier analyses revealed that 3-month and 12-month CCyR and PFS were lower in patients with high EUTOS scores, and intermediate or high Sokal and Hasford scores (all P<0.05). Furthermore, EFS was lower in patients with intermediate or high Sokal and Hasford scores (both P<0.05). Hasford score (hazard ratio =2.608, 95% confidence interval: 1.473–4.617, P=0.001) was independently associated with 3-month CCyR.ConclusionAlthough all three scoring systems were associated with EFS, PFS, and 3-month and 12-month CCyR in the Kaplan–Meier analyses (except EFS with EUTOS), only the Hasford score was independently associated with 3m-CCyR, while EUTOS score and Sokal score were not independently associated with any of these outcomes.