Efficacy of imatinib in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Objective To explore the management experience of imatinib in the treatment of chronic myeloid leuke-mia (CML). Methods There were 40 CML. 20 patients in chronic phase(CP), 8 patients in accelerated phase(AP) and 12 patients in blast crisis(BC). The dosage of imatinib was 400 mg/d for CP patients and 600 mg/d for AP and BC patients. The prescribed dose was administrated orally, once daily after a meal with a large glass of water. Before starting the imatinib administration, all the patients had thorough physical examination as well as blood and bone marrow examination. Ph chromo-some and or the bcr/abl fusion- gene detection again when they achieved a hematological response(CR). Dose was adjusted from time to time according to the results of blood examination and the patients tolerance to the drug. Results After a median 20 - month period of follow - up, all the 20 CP patients achieved complete hematological response, including 7 cases (35%) whose Ph chromosome turned negative after treatment. 6(75%) out of the 8 AP patients and 4(33.3%) out of the 12 BC pa-tients returned to chronic phase respectively. Adverse events included myelosuppression, periorbital edema or edema of the lower limbs,myalgia and muscle cramps,nausea,vomiting,low fever(37.5-38.5℃), tetter and bilirubin increasinn. Con-clusions lmatinib has good efficacy in the treatment of CML. Patients have a good tolerance to imatinib. Key words: Imatinib; Leukemia myeloid; Chronic; Therapeutic effect survey