Deep molecular responses for treatment-free remission in chronic myeloid leukemia

Several clinical trials have demonstrated that some patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP) who achieve sustained deep molecular responses on tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy can safely suspend therapy and attempt treatment-free remission (TFR). Many TFR studies to date have enrolled imatinib-treated patients; however, the feasibility of TFR following nilotinib or dasatinib has also been demonstrated. In this review, we discuss available data from TFR trials and what these data reveal about the molecular biology of TFR. With an increasing number of ongoing TFR clinical trials, TFR may become an achievable goal for patients with CML-CP.