Possible discontinuation of treatment by tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and concept of treatment-free remission
Abstract
Implementation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) into the therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) represented an important milestone in hematologic and oncologic targeted therapy. Imatinib dramatically improved prognosis of patients with CML, which now represents a chronic disease, with the need of livelong therapy.
Many patients achieve deep molecular response during the therapy with TKI, and there is an increasing number of studies presenting the possibility of save cessation of TKI therapy. Long-term usage of TKI increases the probability of side effects of the therapy.
This manuscript will present current knowledge about discontinuation of TKI therapy in patients with CML, overview of results of selected clinical studies and present approach to probable mechanisms and pathophysiology of treatment-free remission. (C) 2017 Czech Medical Association J.E. Purkyne.