Prognostic analysis of chronic myeloid leukemia in Chinese population in an imatinib era

We evaluated the outcomes of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients receiving imatinib treatment in chronic (CP), accelerated (AP), and blast crisis (BP) phases. The single-institution treatment experiences of Chinese patients with CML were presented. A total of 275 CML patients (CP, 210; AP, 24; and BP, 41) who received imatinib between February 2001 and April 2008 were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the treatment responses (hematologic, cytogenetic, and molecular), overall survival (OS), event-free survival (EFS), and prognostic factors of outcome. At the cut-off point, the complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and complete molecular response rates of patients in the CP were 84.7% and 61.9%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of patients in the AP (50% and 29.1%, respectively, both P < 0.001) and BP (24.3% and 9.7%, respectively, both P < 0.001). The estimated five-year OS and five-year EFS rates were 93.2% and 86.4% for CP patients, as well as 64.5% and 50.9% for AP patients, which were significantly higher than those for BP patients (P < 0.001). In CP patients, univariate analysis revealed that early treatment with imatinib, achieving CCyR within 12 months, additional cytogenetic abnormalities, and kinase domain mutations were associated with the treatment outcome. More patients are needed to carry out multivariate analysis.