A pilot study of imatinib, low-dose cytarabine and idarubicin for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in myeloid blast phase

Alfonso Quintás-Cardama, Hagop Kantarjian, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Susan O'Brien, Stefan Faderl, Farhad Ravandi, Francis Giles, Deborah Thomas, William Wierda, Jorge Cortes

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Imatinib is the single most effective agent in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast phase (BP), inducing hematologic responses in 30-50% of patients. However, only a few of these are complete (CHR) and durable. Imatinib is synergistic with idarubicin and cytarabine. We administered imatinib 600 mg/day, cytarabine 10 mg/day subcutaneous, and idarubicin 12 mg/m2 intravenous every 14 days in 19 patients with CML in myeloid BP. Fourteen patients (74%) achieved a hematologic response: CHR in 9 (47%) (3 with complete and 1 with minor cytogenetic responses) and return to chronic phase (RTC) in 5 (26%). Median duration of response was 10 weeks (range, 2-89). Six patients received allogeneic stem cell transplantation: 4 CHR, 1 chronic phase and 1 BP. Median survival was 5 months (range, 2-20 months). This outpatient regimen is effective and well tolerated and perhaps superior to single-agent imatinib for patients in myeloid BP.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)283-289
Number of pages7
JournalLeukemia and Lymphoma
Volume48
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2007
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology
  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

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