Clonal Expansion of Co-Existing Ph-Negative Unrelated Cells in Ph-Positive CML during Imatinib Mesylate Therapy - Abstract
Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is characterized by the translocation, t (9;22) (q34;q11.2) which gives rise to the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. Imatinib mesylate (IM), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor against BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase is standard therapy for CML in chronic phase. In the present study, a CML case in chronic phase is reported with evolving Ph-negative clones co-existing with Ph-positive cells during IM treatment. Identification of cytogenetic polyclonality has important implications for monitoring patient underlying tyrosine kinase therapy (TKI). The data revealed importance of periodic cytogenetic studies as part of routine patient management for CML patients, in addition to molecular monitoring.