UC Irvine

Background

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) may progress to blast phase (BP) at the rate of 1% to 1.5% per year. With the use of single-agent tyrosine kinase inhibitors, median overall survival ranges between 7 and 11 months.

Methods

The outcome was analyzed for 42 patients with lymphoid BP-CML who were treated with hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, Adriamycin, dexamethasone (HCVAD) plus imatinib or dasatinib.

Results

Complete hematological response was achieved in 90% of patients, complete cytogenetic remission in 58%, and complete molecular remission in 25%. Flow cytometry minimal residual disease negativity was achieved by 42% of evaluable patients after induction. Eighteen patients received allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) while in first complete hematological response. Median remission duration was 14 months and was longer among SCT recipients (P = .01) on multivariate analysis. Median overall survival was 17 months (range, 7-27 months) and was longer among SCT recipients (P < .001) and patients treated with dasatinib (P = .07) on multivariate analysis. Although a high rate of hematologic toxicity (100%) and infectious complications (59%) were observed, the related rate of treatment discontinuation was low (7% and 9%, respectively).

Conclusions

HCVAD combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitors is an effective regimen for the management of BP-CML, particularly when followed by allogeneic SCT.