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CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS, INTERVENTIONS, AND THERAPEUTIC TRIALS
From the Departments of Leukemia, Blood and Marrow
Transplantation, Molecular Pathology, and Bioimmunotherapy, The
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.
Twenty-eight adults with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) that
had relapsed after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) received
imatinib mesylate (400-1000 mg/d). Disease was in chronic phase in 5 patients, accelerated in 15, and blastic in 8 (7 medullary, 1 extramedullary); median time from transplantation to relapse was 9 months (range, 1-137 months). Thirteen patients had undergone salvage
donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) (median time from DLI to imatinib
mesylate therapy, 4 months [range, 2-39 months]). The overall
response rate was 79% (22 of 28 patients); the complete hematologic
response (CHR) rate was 74% (17 of 23 patients), and the cytogenetic
response rate was 58% (15 of 26 patients; complete response in
9 [35%] patients). CHR rates were 100% for chronic phase, 83% for
accelerated phase, and 43% for blastic phase. The patient with
extramedullary blastic disease achieved complete response. Cytogenetic
response rates were 63% (12 of 19 patients) for chronic or accelerated
phases (complete cytogenetic response in 8) and 43% for blastic phase
(3 of 7 patients). At median follow-up of 15 months, 19 patients were
alive, 9 with no evidence of disease. The 1-year estimated survival
rate was 74%. Five patients had recurrence of grade 3 (3 patients) or
grades 1 to 2 (2 patients) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Severe
granulocytopenia developed in 43% of patients and thrombocytopenia in
27%; both conditions reversed with dose adjustments of imatinib
mesylate. We conclude that imatinib mesylate effectively controlled CML
that recurred after allogeneic SCT, but it was associated with side
effects including myelosuppression and recurrence of severe GVHD.
(Blood. 2002;100:1590-1595) Recent advances in the understanding of
Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia
(CML) and progress in therapy have improved the prognosis for patients
with this disease.1-4 The 2 primary types of first-line
therapy for CML involve interferon- Relapse after allogeneic SCT has been treated with donor lymphocyte
infusion (DLI), IFN- A new form of therapy for CML involves the tyrosine kinase
inhibitor imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, STI571), which specifically inhibits the function of the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein associated with Ph-positive disease.14,15 Phase I and II studies of
imatinib mesylate for patients with CML in the chronic, accelerated,
and blastic phases have produced impressive results.16-21
In one such study of patients with chronic phase CML whose disease did
not respond to IFN- Patients
Therapy
Definitions of response and CML phases CHR was defined as the normalization of peripheral blood cell counts and differential counts and the disappearance of all signs and symptoms of CML. Cytogenetic responses were categorized as complete (no Ph-positive metaphase cells in bone marrow or blood samples), partial (1%-34% Ph-positive cells), or minor (35%-90% Ph-positive cells). Samples from patients with a complete cytogenetic response were subjected to quantitative competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for BCR-ABL transcripts as evidence of molecular response.22Blastic phase CML was defined as the presence of 30% or more blasts in the peripheral blood or marrow or of extramedullary disease. Accelerated phase disease was characterized as the presence of 15% or more blasts, 20% or more basophils, 30% or more blasts + promyelocytes, thrombocytopenia (less than 100 × 109/L) unrelated to therapy, or cytogenetic clonal evolution.23 Imatinib mesylate Survival time from the initiation of imatinib mesylate therapy and survival as a function of disease phase at therapy were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.24
Patients Characteristics of the 28 patients who underwent imatinib mesylate therapy are shown in Table 1. Median patient age was 43 years (range, 25-64 years); 16 (57%) patients were men. Twelve of the 17 patients who underwent SCT from related donors were 6/6 matches; of the 11 patients with unrelated SCT donors, HLA-matching data were available for 9, and 7 of those 9 were 6/6 matches. Median time from allogeneic SCT to evidence of relapse was 9 months (range, 1-137 months). Six patients underwent T-cell-depleted allogeneic SCT. With regard to previous salvage therapy after relapse, 13 patients underwent DLI 6 underwent it once, and 7 underwent it 2 or
more times. Median time from the last DLI to imatinib mesylate therapy
was 4 months (range, 2-39 months). Fifteen patients had been off
immunosuppressive therapy for a median of 11 months (range, 1-125 months). When imatinib mesylate therapy was begun, 4 patients had
chronic phase active disease, 1 had chronic phase disease with CHR and
0% Ph-positive cells (complete cytogenetic response) and Bcr-Abl
transcripts positive by PCR, 15 had accelerated phase disease, and 8 had blastic phase disease.
Treatment responses Imatinib mesylate therapy produced responses in 22 (79%) of the 28 patients (Table 2). Responses according to disease phase at the initiation of therapy are summarized in Table 3. The sole patient with chronic phase, Bcr-Abl-positive disease (Table 2, patient 20) had no molecular evidence of disease after imatinib mesylate therapy. All 4 patients in active chronic phase CML achieved CHR, and 1 of these patients also had a partial cytogenetic response (24% Ph-positive cells).
Of the 15 patients in accelerated phase CML, 1 of the 3 who had been in CHR (normal white blood cell [WBC] count but clonal evolution) achieved a complete cytogenetic response and a complete molecular response (PCR-negative). Twelve patients had active accelerated phase disease: 10 (83%) achieved CHR, 7 had complete cytogenetic response including 1 with complete molecular response; 3 had partial cytogenetic response. Of these 12 patients, one patient was categorized as having accelerated phase CML based on thrombocytopenia alone; he achieved a complete cytogenetic response. Six patients had clonal evolution as the only accelerated phase criterion: all 6 achieved CHR, 3 with complete cytogenetic response and 3 with partial cytogenetic response. The remaining 5 patients had multiple accelerated phase features; 3 achieved CHR and complete cytogenetic response. Eight patients had blastic phase disease (7 in the bone marrow); 1 had extramedullary (EMD) blastic phase but with marrow morphologic and cytogenetic complete remission and PCR positivity (Table 2, patient 17). Of the 7 patients with medullary blastic phase, 3 had CHR; 1 had a complete cytogenetic response, and 2 had a partial cytogenetic response. The patient with blastic EMD achieved tumor complete response (CR) and PCR negativity in the bone marrow. All 11 patients with a complete cytogenetic response (the 9 listed above plus the patient with molecular-only disease and the patient with blastic EMD) had PCR analysis of samples after treatment; 4 achieved complete molecular response (detailed above). Clonal analysis of marrow samples from 4 patients who showed diploid hematopoiesis after treatment revealed that clones in all 4 originated from the donor rather than the host. Thirteen patients had undergone prior DLI salvage therapy. Nine of 11 (85%) patients with active disease (including the patient with blastic EMD) had CHR or tumor CR, and 8 of 12 (66%) evaluable patients for cytogenetic response had a major cytogenetic response. Fifteen patients did not receive DLI salvage therapy: 9 of 13 (69%) patients with active disease achieved CHR, and 7 of 14 (50%) evaluable patients for cytogenetic response had a major cytogenetic response. Survival analyses At a median follow-up of 16 months (range, 9-24 months), 20 (68%) patients were alive, and 9 of them had no evidence of disease. Hence, the estimated 1-year survival rates were 74% for the group as a whole and 100% for patients treated while the disease was in chronic phase (Figures 1 and 2). Nine patients have died so far, including 6 with progression to blastic phase, 1 with cardiopulmonary failure from viral pneumonia, and 2 whose deaths occurred outside the institution (probably from disease progression; no definite documentation). There were no deaths related to imatinib mesylate therapy.
Side effects The incidence and type of side effects from imatinib mesylate therapy were similar to those in previous reports. Skin rashes occurred in 11 patients; they were mild to moderate in 8 and severe in 3. Skin biopsy specimens were consistent with GVHD in 4 of the 5 patients tested for skin rashes. Three had grade 3 GVHD, 1 had grade 2 GVHD, and 1 was clinically evaluated as having grade 1 GVHD. The other 6 occurrences of mild to moderate skin rashes were attributed to imatinib mesylate and resolved with symptomatic therapy (topical steroids). Other severe toxic effects are listed in Table 4. Only 1 of 5 patients with liver toxicity required permanent discontinuation of therapy; liver function in the other 4 improved after dose adjustments. Myelosuppression was observed in 6 of 14 patients who had had normal granulocyte counts at the beginning of therapy, and thrombocytopenia was noted in 4 of 15 patients with previously normal platelet counts. These, too, resolved with dose adjustments.
In our study, imatinib mesylate showed encouraging efficacy against CML that relapsed after allogeneic SCT. The overall response rate was 79% (22 of 28 patients). The CHR rate was 74%, the major cytogenetic response rate was 58%, and the complete cytogenetic response rate was 35%. Myelosuppression was noted in 27% to 43% of patients but was reversible with dose adjustments; 3 (11%) patients experienced reactivation of severe skin GVHD. Significantly, 13 (46%) patients had already been given DLI, and 11 of those patients responded to imatinib mesylate. The results of our study were similar to those reported by other
investigators.25-29 Chambon-Pautas et al25
reported on 15 patients whose CML relapsed after allogeneic SCT Several of the imatinib mesylate toxicities overlap with those of
recurrent GVHD (diarrhea, skin rashes, liver dysfunction), making it
difficult at times to attribute causality to one or the other. This is
important in assessing the relative efficacy and toxicity of imatinib
mesylate versus DLI. Generally, DLI is associated with 20% to 40%
rates of recurrent grades 3-4 GVHD, 30% to 40% significant
myelosuppression, and 20% treatment-related deaths. The cumulative
data from this and 5 other series suggest that imatinib mesylate
therapy was associated with severe myelosuppression in 10% to 50%
(reversible in most with dose reductions), recurrence of GVHD in 0% to
11%, and rare imatinib mesylate-associated mortality (Table
5).25-29
In summary, the results of imatinib mesylate therapy in patients
who have CML relapse following allogeneic SCT appear encouraging. However, treatment with imatinib mesylate in these patients is not
without side effects, and the long-term outcome of such therapy is
unknown. Future studies will help clarify the role of imatinib mesylate
for CML relapse following allogeneic SCT. Imatinib mesylate therapy
alone may be most reasonable in patients who still have persistent GVHD
at the time of CML recurrence, to avoid potential worsening of GVHD.
Combined-modality approaches of imatinib mesylate with DLI
(simultaneous or sequential), IFN-
Submitted August 24, 2001; accepted April 16, 2002.
Supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ. J.E.C. is a Clinical Research Scholar for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. section 1734.
Reprints: Hagop M. Kantarjian, Department of Leukemia, Box 428, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030; e-mail: hkantarj{at}mdanderson.org.
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