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Pretransplant imatinib can improve the outcome of nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation without increasing the morbidity in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia

Leukemia volume 18, pages 1907–1909 (2004)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) would appear to be the ideal disease for exploring nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation (NST), at least in the early chronic phase (CP)1 (Deininger MWN et al. Bone Marrow Transplant 2002; 29: 31 (abstract)). However, NST in advanced phases will not routinely replace the conventional myeloablative regimen due to the higher relapse rate. Although imatinib, which is an inhibitor of BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, is highly effective in Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive CML,2 relapses during the imatinib treatment also have been observed in the accelerated phase (AP) and even in some patients with CP CML.3 Therefore, additional curative modalities will be needed in patients who have achieved the optimum responses after an imatinib treatment in advanced phases of CML. There have been a few case reports using imatinib for allogeneic transplantation.4, 5 So far, the precise impact of a long-term pretransplant treatment with imatinib on engraftment, the transplant-related morbidity and mortality (TRM), graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), relapse, and survival has not been reported.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant of the Korea Health 21 R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (01-PJ10-PG6-01GN16-0005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Hematology Laboratory,Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

    D-W Kim, Y-J Chung, S Lee, Y-J Kim, N-G Chung, J A Kim, I-H Oh, T-G Kim, Y-L Kim, H-G Goh, S-H Kim, B Cho, H-J Kim, C-K Min, J W Lee, J Y Jin, C-W Han, J W Kim, W-S Min, H-K Kim, C-C Kim & H J Kim

  2. Genome Research Center for Hematopoietic diseases, Chonnam National University Hospital, Kwangju, Korea

    H J Kim

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Correspondence to S Lee.

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Kim, DW., Chung, YJ., Lee, S. et al. Pretransplant imatinib can improve the outcome of nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation without increasing the morbidity in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. Leukemia 18, 1907–1909 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403502

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