Chronic myelogenous leukemia: the present and the future of the TKI therapy

Impressive response rates and the good tolerability have allowed imatinib to become the gold standard frontline therapy for all CML patients in the early chronic phase. Optimal outcomes are attained with more than two thirds of the CML cases treated with standard dose imatinib (400 mg daily). Criteria to establish failure and suboptimal responses to imatinib have been defined. Treatment guidelines have also suggested imatinib dose escalation based on clinical assessments of disease response. However, despite all the effort to optimize therapy with imatinib, cases of real resistance exist. For imatinib resistant and intolerant cases, second generation powerful tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been developed and registered. Sequential kinase inhibitor therapy is used to overcome resistance however, a future strategy might be a combination therapy with different ABL kinase inhibitors in the same therapeutic scheme, used sequentially or simultaneousl.Respostas impressionantes e boa tolerância transformaram o imatinibe no "padrão ouro" de tratamento de primeira linha na LMC em fase crônica precoce. Evolução favorável em mais de 2/3 dos pacientes com LMC é obtida com dose standard de 400 mg por dia. Critérios para estabelecer falha de tratamento e resposta "sub-ótima" têm sido definidos. Guidelines têm sugerido que o escalonamento da dose do imatinibe possa melhorar a resposta em subgrupo de pacientes. Entretanto, a despeito de todos os esforços para otimizar a resposta ao imatinibe, casos de resistência realmente existem. Para os casos de intolerância ou resistência ao imatinibe, inibidores potentes de segunda geração foram desenvolvidos e registrados (nilotinibe e dasatinibe). Além disto, terapêutica sequencial de inibidores podem ultrapassar a resistência, e a terapia combinada usada sequencialmente ou simultaneamente pode ser usada como estratégia futura

Expert opinion on the treatment of refractory chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia

The development and clinical availability of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for the treatment of patients who discontinue imatinib therapy has further improved the outlook for patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia (CP-CML). There is, however, uncertainty surrounding how best to treat patients after failing second-generation TKIs. A three-section questionnaire was devised by chronic myeloid leukaemia experts to address questions surrounding this issue. Responses were received from 14 out of 34 experts (41.2%). Generally, a reasonable consensus was found among the responses for most issues. There was a complete consensus that ponatinib was suitable for all patients carrying the T315I mutation regardless of the molecular response to prior treatment. There was also complete consensus that allografting is appropriate in any patient who has had blast crises and is back in a second chronic phase. More recommendations for third-line treatment of CP-CML patients are necessary

prospects for achieving treatment free remission in chronic myeloid leukaemia

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Milestones and Monitoring

In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the presence of a specific chromosome marker (Ph-chromosome) as well as of the corresponding molecular marker (BCR-ABL fusion transcripts) provides suitable and precise tools to monitor the burden of the disease present at diagnosis and that of the residual disease present at specific time points during treatment. A huge number of studies have clearly demonstrated that in CML cytogenetic and molecular responses are strictly correlated to the final outcome of the patients and the correct use of standardized methods to assess the achievement of specific degrees of disease reduction at specific time points during treatment has become an essential part of proper clinical management of CML. The target to be achieved and the corresponding “optimal response” definition are however evolving, and at least for some patients, they may be represented not only by best possible overall survival (OS) but also by the possibility to discontinue the tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment and therefore to live in a treatment-free remission (TFR) status. Therefore, at least for some patients, deep degrees of molecular response, as MR(4) and MR(4.5), whose precise definition has been recently introduced and that are prerequisites to try to discontinuation, are becoming the target to be achieved even in common clinical practice. As a fast initial decline of the disease burden after therapy start may be highly predictive for the final outcome of patients not only in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and of PS but also in terms of possibility of achieving deep molecular responses, a more intense and punctual monitoring of the response of CML patients during the first 6 months of TKI therapy is now recommended by the more recent versions of the European Leukemia Net (ELN) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, as this represents the major driver to decide therapy

Iron Chelation Therapy in Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous disorder of the hematopoietic stem cells, frequently characterized by anemia and transfusion dependency. In low-risk patients, transfusion dependency can be long lasting, leading to iron overload. Iron chelation therapy may be a therapeutic option for these patients, especially since the approval of oral iron chelators, which are easier to use and better accepted by the patients. The usefulness of iron chelation in MDS patients is still under debate, mainly because of the lack of solid prospective clinical trials that should take place in the future. This review aims to summarize what is currently known about the incidence and clinical consequences of iron overload in MDS patients and the state-of the-art of iron chelation therapy in this setting. We also give an overview of clinical guidelines for chelation in MDS published to date and some perspectives for the future