Non-adherence to CML therapy and its clinical implications in India

Clinical trials have shown that early and deeper cytogenetic/ molecular responses to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) help in achieving improved long-term outcomes including lower rates of disease progression in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). However, the level of molecular responses achieved with TKI therapy in patients with CML is variable and this could be explained by differences in adherence to CML therapy. A systematic literature review of CML studies reporting adherence to BCR-ABL inhibitors from the USA, Asia and Europe (19 articles: 9 retrospective, 4 prospective, rest cross-sectional) showed that average adherence varies from 19% to 100% of the proportion of prescribed drug taken. Some factors that contribute to non-adherence include patient attitudes, adverse events associated with therapy, treatment complexities and socioeconomic issues. This article focuses on the problem of non-adherence to therapy in CML, especially from an Indian perspective, and offers suggestions for its mitigation.