Best Practice & Research Clinical Haematology
Volume 22, Issue 3 , Pages 315-329, September 2009

Interferon in chronic myeloid leukaemia: past and future

INSERM CIC 0802 and Department of Oncology-Haematology and Cell Therapy, CHU de Poitiers, 2 Rue de la Milétrie, 86021 POITIERS CEDEX, France

Imatinib has revolutionized the therapy of chronic myeloid leukaemia. However the complete eradication of leukaemic stem cells is still a matter of discussion. Interferon (IFN) has been used in the past with success. However the proportion of patients who achieved sustained complete cytogenetic response was small. Recently, in addition to its direct antineoplastic effect and immunomodulatory activity, IFN has been shown to stimulate the quiescent leukaemic stem cells. Thus there is now a rational for combining Imatinib and IFN. Large prospective phase III trials are in good progress to demonstrate in humans the usefullness of a combination therapy using Imatinib and IFN.

Keywords: chronic myeloid leukaemia, interferon, randomized trials, stem cell dormancy

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PII: S1521-6926(09)00075-9

doi:10.1016/j.beha.2009.10.005

Best Practice & Research Clinical Haematology
Volume 22, Issue 3 , Pages 315-329, September 2009

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