Result of the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia with imatinib from the Vietnam National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion

Introduction. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) ranks third among hematological malignancies in Vietnam. Imatinib has become the standard therapy for CML patients in Vietnam since 2009. Materials and methods. A phase IV clinical study for 1 st line imatinib treatment of CML patients, carried out in 121 CML patients treated in NIHBT and receiving imatinib 400 mg/daily from 2010 to 2014. Results. Cumulative CCyR and CMR were achieved in 82 (67.8%) and 80 (66.1%) of patients, respectively. There was a correlation between the time interval (from CML diagnosis to initiating imatinib treatment) and both complete cytogenetic (OR 0.158; p = 0.001) and molecular (OR 0.263; p = 0.018) responses. The analysis demonstrated that imatinib treatment minimized the prognostic impact of previously established prognostic factors in CML. The 3-year PFS and OS rates were 114 (94.6%) and 118 (97.5%), respectively. Hematologic adverse effects were mild with 1st and 2nd grades anemia, granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia found in 17 (14%), 27 (22.3%) and 29 (23.9%) patients, respectively. The most commonly non hematologic adverse effects occurred in 1st year of followup including periorbital edema, nausea, musculoskeletal pain, and rash.