Durable molecular complete remission induced by low-dose imatinib plus low-dose interferon alpha in a patient with...

A 50-year-old male was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) in chronic phase in March 2000. He was treated initially with hydroxyurea, administered orally. This was changed to interferon alpha (IFN) 5 million units (5 MIU) subcutaneously daily in May 2000; complete cytogenetic response was achieved 11 months later. IFN dosage was reduced to 5 MIU, alternate days, in June 2001 and a cytogenetic relapse occurred 3 months later. Since April 2002, he has received IFN 5 MIU three times weekly in combination with imatinib 200 mg/day. The Philadelphia chromosome disappeared from his peripheral blood cells in July 2002 and a complete molecular response was achieved in January 2003. Serial molecular studies between January 2004 and January 2005 showed no detectable major BCR/ABL chimeric transcript. Grade 2 neutropenia and grade 1 non-haematological adverse effects have been observed. This case report suggests the combination of low-dose imatinib and IFN would be tolerable and effective for CML patients in chronic phase.