Treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia in the imatinib era : Perspective from a developing country

There is paucity of data from developing countries on the efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The primary objective of this study was to document complete and partial cytogenetic responses to imatinib in all phases of CML. Secondary objectives included evaluations of complete hematologic response, safety, time to progression, and survival. Two hundred seventy-five patients in all phases of CML who received treatment with imatinib from January 2001 to December 2005 were included in the study. All patients had on bone marrow or BCR-ABL positive in peripheral blood by polymerase chain reaction. After a median follow-up of 18 months, major cytogenetic responses (Ph