[Prolonged molecular response induced by imatinib in Philadelphia positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia A case report...

Philadelphia or BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (PH+ ALL) is the most common and severe of adult ALL. The only potentially curator treatment remains allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (SCT) in first complete remission. The use of imatinib has revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. Its incorporation into PH + ALL protocols also improved the prognosis of this disease giving better complete remission rates compared to chemotherapy alone. The treatment of patients not eligible for SCT remains controversial. Prolonged use of high dose tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) (ie: imatinib at 600 or 800 mg/j) as maintenance therapy seems to be a reasonable approach. We present a case of prolonged molecular remission of PH+ ALL under TKI alone as maintenance therapy.