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The dramatic decline in mortality rates in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a direct result of the advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and the dawning of the targeted era. Although many patients experience long-term benefits from imatinib or related agents, problems with resistance and tolerance dampen the outcomes for many others. During his presentation at the NCCN 19th Annual Conference, Dr. Jerald Radich reviewed the ever-expanding menu of TKIs for CML and shared his thoughts on resolving the clinical questions regarding when to start which drugs, how to sequence the drugs, and how best to decide when to change the therapeutic tack.

The success of various generations of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is well-known, with many patients experiencing long-term benefits from treatment. However, not every patient with CML can tolerate this therapy, shows response to initial treatment, or avoids disease progression or drug resistance. During his presentation at the NCCN 20th Annual Conference, Jerald Radich, MD, shared his thoughts and some supportive data on the critical role of monitoring response at 3 months, the often-neglected yet key issue of patient adherence to therapy, the recommended timing for mutational analysis, and the pressing need to prevent patients from going from chronic-phase disease into accelerated phase/blast crisis.

Unlike in other leukemias, survival rates have climbed dramatically in early-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). This improvement in long-term prognosis is primarily the result of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib and its second-generation cousins nilotinib and dasatinib. In his presentation at the NCCN 18th Annual Conference, Dr. Jerald P. Radich reviewed the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) recommendations for monitoring response to treatment with the TKIs, which center on complete cytogenetic response, and the role of mutational analysis for guiding treatment decisions in the setting of imatinib resistance. He also offered a brief mention of 2 new agents recently approved for resistant CML—ponatinib and bosutinib.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia represents the poster child of successful precision medicine in cancer, with amazing survival results achieved with targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in many patients with chronic-phase disease. Unfortunately, however, this good news has not extended to patients in blast crisis, for whom survival has not clearly been improved with TKIs. During his presentation at the NCCN 21st Annual Conference, Jerald P. Radich, MD, briefly explored the biology behind advanced-stage disease and several of the molecular findings in disease progression. He also reviewed some of the therapeutic options in advanced disease, emphasizing that transplantation, although fraught with some difficulties, offers the best long-term prognosis for patients in blast crisis.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are now standard up-front therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase CML treated with the TKI imatinib mesylate typically experience a complete cytogenetic remission. Outcomes for patients with advanced-phase disease are distinctly worse. Unfortunately, a small proportion of chronic-phase patients experience relapse during this therapy, and most with advanced-phase disease develop resistance to imatinib mesylate after months of therapy. Hematopoietic cell transplantation remains the only curative approach for CML and can salvage patients with advanced-phase disease. Therefore, physicians must carefully monitor patients with chronic-phase CML treated with TKIs so that they can undergo hematopoietic cell transplant (or treatment with another TKI or experimental therapy) before frank progression occurs. Fortunately, monitoring CML using cytogenetic and molecular methods (i.e., quantitative polymerase chain reaction) effectively defines end points that correlate highly with outcome.

The introduction of targeted therapies has revolutionized treatment and improved outcomes in patients with leukemias and lymphomas. However, many patients experience relapse caused by the persistence of residual malignant cells. Cytogenetic and molecular techniques are increasingly being used to assess and quantify minimal residual disease (MRD). The emergence of advanced technologies has led to the discovery of multiple novel molecular markers that can be used to detect MRD and predict outcome in patients with leukemias and lymphomas. Gene expression signatures that predict clinical outcomes in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have been identified. In chronic myelogenous leukemia, molecular monitoring has become more important in assessing response and detecting resistance to therapy. In acute leukemias, several new markers have shown potential in prognostication and monitoring treatment. In leukemias and lymphomas, microRNAs have been identified that may be useful in diagnostics and prognostication. To address these issues, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) organized a task force consisting of a panel of experts in leukemia and lymphoma to discuss recent advances in the field of molecular markers and monitoring MRD.

The advent of imatinib has dramatically improved outcomes in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). It has become the standard of care for all patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase CML based on its successful induction of durable responses in most patients. However, its use is complicated by the development of resistance in some patients. Dose escalation might overcome this resistance if detected early. The second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) dasatinib and nilotinib provide effective therapeutic options for managing patients resistant or intolerant to imatinib. Recent studies have shown that dasatinib and nilotinib provide quicker and potentially better responses than standard-dose imatinib when used as a first-line treatment. The goal of therapy for patients with CML is the achievement of a complete cytogenetic response, and eventually a major molecular response, to prevent disease progression to accelerated or blast phase. Selecting the appropriate TKI depends on many factors, including disease phase, primary or secondary resistance to TKI, the agent's side effect profile and its relative effectiveness against BCR-ABL mutations, and the patient's tolerance to therapy. In October 2010, NCCN organized a task force consisting of a panel of experts from NCCN Member Institutions with expertise in the management of patients with CML to discuss these issues. This report provides recommendations regarding the selection of TKI therapy for the management of patients with CML based on the evaluation of available published clinical data and expert opinion among the task force members.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is defined by the presence of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), resulting from a reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22 [t(9;22] that gives rise to a BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. CML occurs in 3 different phases (chronic, accelerated, and blast phase) and is usually diagnosed in the chronic phase. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy is a highly effective first-line treatment option for all patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase CML (CP-CML). The selection TKI therapy should be based on the risk score, toxicity profile of TKI, patient's age, ability to tolerate therapy, and the presence of comorbid conditions. This manuscript discusses the recommendations outlined in the NCCN Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with CP-CML.