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The TOPASE study was set up to evaluate the outcomes of chronic myeloid leukaemia [CML] patients treated with ponatinib (PON) in a real-world setting in France. One hundred and twenty CML patients, 105 in chronic phase (CP), 8 in accelerated phase (AP) and 7 in blastic phase (BP) were included. Fifty-one (49%) of the CP-CML patients were in third line of treatment. The trigger for PON initiation in CP-CML was 'poor response' in 67 patients, 'poor tolerance' in 28 patients and 'response enhancement' in seven patients. The median dose at initiation was 30 mg/day [Q1; Q3 = 15; 30] in CP-CML and 45 mg/day [Q1; Q3 = 30; 45] in AP/BP-CML. Of 98 CP-CML evaluable patients, 72 (73.5%) were considered as responders (MMR) at one time point at least once, especially for those in second line of treatment and/or presenting a T315I mutation. Ninety-six of 120 (80%) patients reported at least one adverse event. An arterial occlusive event (AOE) was reported in 11 patients (9.2%). Thus, these real-life data confirm the potency of ponatinib in resistant or intolerant patients with an acceptable safety profile in non-selected patients. NCT number: NCT04048564., (© 2024 The Author(s). British Journal of Haematology published by British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The ultimate goal of chronic myeloid leukemia management in the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) era for patients who obtain deep molecular responses is maintaining a durable off-treatment response after treatment discontinuation; this situation is called treatment-free remission (TFR). Knowledge accumulated during the last 10 years justifies moving TFR strategies from research to clinical practice., Methods: Twenty experts from the French Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Study Group (France Intergroupe des Leucémies Myéloïdes Chroniques), including 17 hematologists, 2 molecular biologists, and 1 cytogeneticist, critically reviewed published data with the goal of developing evidence-based recommendations for TKI discontinuation in clinical practice., Results: Clinically relevant questions were addressed, including the selection of candidate patients (with known prognostic factors for outcomes taken into account), detailed monitoring procedures during the treatment-free phase, a definition of relapse requiring therapy resumption, and monitoring after treatment reintroduction., Conclusions: This work presents consensus statements with the aim of guiding physicians and biologists by means of pragmatic recommendations for safe TKI discontinuation in daily practice. Cancer 2018;124:2956-63. © 2018 American Cancer Society., (© 2018 American Cancer Society.)

Background: Imatinib treatment significantly improves survival in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), but little is known about whether treatment can safely be discontinued in the long term. We aimed to assess whether imatinib can be discontinued without occurrence of molecular relapse in patients in complete molecular remission (CMR) while on imatinib., Methods: In our prospective, multicentre, non-randomised Stop Imatinib (STIM) study, imatinib treatment (of >2 years duration) was discontinued in patients with CML who were aged 18 years and older and in CMR (>5-log reduction in BCR-ABL and ABL levels and undetectable transcripts on quantitative RT-PCR). Patients who had undergone immunomodulatory treatment (apart from interferon α), treatment for other malignancies, or allogeneic haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation were not included. Patients were enrolled at 19 participating institutions in France. In this interim analysis, rate of relapse was assessed by use of RT-PCR for patients with at least 12 months of follow-up. Imatinib was reintroduced in patients who had molecular relapse. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00478985., Findings: 100 patients were enrolled between July 9, 2007, and Dec 17, 2009. Median follow-up was 17 months (range 1-30), and 69 patients had at least 12 months follow-up (median 24 months, range 13-30). 42 (61%) of these 69 patients relapsed (40 before 6 months, one patient at month 7, and one at month 19). At 12 months, the probability of persistent CMR for these 69 patients was 41% (95% CI 29-52). All patients who relapsed responded to reintroduction of imatinib: 16 of the 42 patients who relapsed showed decreases in their BCR-ABL levels, and 26 achieved CMR that was sustained after imatinib rechallenge., Interpretation: Imatinib can be safely discontinued in patients with a CMR of at least 2 years duration. Imatinib discontinuation in this setting yields promising results for molecular relapse-free survival, raising the possibility that, at least in some patients, CML might be cured with tyrosine kinase inhibitors., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nilotinib (Tasigna) is a second-generation BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor, recently introduced and used for the treatment of chronic or accelerated phase CML patients, intolerant or resistant to imatinib. This treatment represents and important step forward for the disease control of such patients but can lead to side effects, sometimes serious, which can limit its optimal use. We propose here some guidelines that might be of help in daily practice, in order to manage properly these side effects.

This retrospective study analyzed the impact of demographic and transplantation variables on outcomes of 1108 patients who have undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after reduced intensity conditioning (RIC HSCT) for hematological malignancies and were reported to the Société Française de Greffe de Moelle et de Thérapie Cellulaire registry between November 1994 and December 2004. Only 442 patients (40%) were in complete remission (CR) at time of transplantation. Peripheral blood stem cells were used in the majority of patients (n = 878; 79%), 255 patients received fludarabine and low-dose total body irradiation, while 465 patients (42%) fludarabine and busulfan with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulins (ATG). The impact of demographic and transplant variables was studied on overall (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) in univariate and multivariate analysis. With a median follow-up of 21 months, 3-year probability of OS and EFS was 42% and 30%, respectively, and treatment-related mortality was 15% at 2 years. The multivariate analysis showed a significant negative impact on OS and EFS of the absence of CR status before transplantation; conditioning regimen, including >10 mg/kg ATG; and minor ABO incompatibility. In conclusion, this study highlights the major impact on RIC HSCT outcome of disease status before transplantation, ATG dose and ABO incompatibility.

The emergence of ABL point mutations is the most frequent cause for imatinib resistance in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients and can occur during any phase of the disease; however, their clinical impact remains controversial. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the predictive impact of 94 BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations (18 T315I, 26 P-loop, 50 in other sites) found in 89 imatinib-resistant CML patients. At imatinib onset, 64% of patients (57/89) were in chronic phase (CP), 24% (21/89) in accelerated phase (AP) and 12% (11/89) in blastic phase (BP). T315I and P-loop mutations were preferentially discovered in accelerated phase of BP CML, and other types of mutations in CP (P=0.003). With a median follow-up of 39.2 months (6.3-67.2), since imatinib initiation, overall survival (OS) was significantly worse for P-loop (28.3 months) and for T315I (12.6 months), and not reached for other mutations (P=0.0004). For CP only, multivariate analysis demonstrated a worse OS for P-loop mutations (P=0.014), and a worse progression-free survival (PFS) for T315I mutations (P=0.014). Therefore, P-loop and T315I mutations selectively impair the outcome of imatinib-resistant CML patients, in contrast to other mutations, which may benefit from dose escalation of imatinib, able to improve or stabilize disease response.