Advocacy & Knowledge
Summary of the CML educational session from ASH 2019
Patients, borders, money, and mission:
A global perspective of chronic myeloid leukemia
- Summary of the CML educational session from ASH 2019 -
Chairs:
Hemant Malhotra, MD, FRCP; Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital, Jaipur, IndiaSpeakers:
Gary H. Lyman, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
- Meeting the Needs of CML Patients in Resource-Poor Countries: a Roundtable Discussion
New drugs for CML in clinical trials: ASH 2019
The CML Clinical Trials data-base now lists 54 studies worldwide
Our clinical trials registry currently lists 54 studies:
- 32 CML studies actively recruiting patients, including
- 2 paediatric trials
- 7 treatment-free remission trials
- 20 studies that are no longer recruiting
Check here CML Trials Registry
Results from ASH: Discontinuation of TKIs in children with CML
TKIs seem to allow most CML patients, including children, to live a normal lifespan under continued treatment. However, the medication’s long-term side effects such as growth impairment and the need to take the drug for the rest of life, are an issue of concern, especially for children. Recent clinical trials in adults have suggested that some CML patients in deep molecular response on TKI therapy may have a chance to discontinue TKI treatment. However, the biology of CML in children may differ from adults with more aggressive presentation, and data of TKI discontinuation in CML children are limited.
Update on stopping CML treatment: Report from the American Society of Hematology Congress 2019
Achieving therapy-free remission (TFR) continues to be amongst the most discussed topics in CML at the moment. At this year’s ASH congress, the first plenary oral session on CML was dedicated to the topic of TFR and there were many posters as well.
Overall, there is no big news in the area of TFR, but research continues intensively. Across all the different studies, about half of all patients that are stopping therapy after years of deep molecular response to TKI (below MR4 / BCR-ABL below 0.01) need to restart treatment. The main open questions remain to predict the individual patients’ likelihood of a successful stop, the need for life-long PCR monitoring to catch potential late recurrences of CML, and whether a second attempt to withdraw therapy is feasible and safe.