Interferon-α may help prevent molecular relapse of chronic myeloid leukemia after the discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors

• Published in: Therapeutic advances in hematology Vol. 12; p. 2040620720986643
• Main Authors: Jun, Kong, Ya-zhen, Qin, Xiao-su, Zhao, Hong-Xia, Shi, Yue-Yun, Lai, Kai-yan, Liu, Xiao-jun, Huang, Hao, Jiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2021; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Cancer therapies; Clinical outcomes; Inhibitor drugs; Interferon; Leukemia; Original Research; Targeted cancer therapy; chronic myeloid leukemia; tyrosine kinase inhibitor; interferon; discontinuation
• ISSN: 2040-6207; 2040-6215
• DOI: 10.1177/2040620720986643

Background: Currently, the goal of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment is normal survival and good quality of life without life-long treatment, namely, “treatment-free remission” (TFR). At present, approximately only 50% of patients with CML with a deep molecular response are able to discontinue tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) without experiencing molecular relapse [MR; loss of major molecular response (MMR)]. In addition, prior interferon (IFN) treatment is associated with a higher rate of TFR. Methods: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of TKI discontinuation in Chinese patients with CML and determine whether IFN could prevent MR when used after TKI discontinuation in patients with 0.0032% <BCR-ABLIS ⩽0.1%. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with CML who discontinued TKI treatment at our center. Results: Forty-nine patients who discontinued TKI therapy after achieving MR 4.5 were included in this study, and the median follow-up time from TKI discontinuation was 27 (7, 75) months. Nineteen patients eventually lost MMR, and the TFR rate of the 49 patients was 67% (95% confidence interval 53.6%, 80.3%) at 12 months. The duration of MR 4.5 ⩾54 months and duration of imatinib ⩾85 months were significantly associated with a higher TFR rate. Of the 22 patients with 0.0032% <BCR-ABLIS ⩽0.1%, 12 received IFN-α treatment. The median IFN-α therapy duration was nine (2, 18) months, and three patients eventually lost MMR. Three patients discontinued IFN-α after 2, 2.5, and 10 months, and maintained MMR for 9, 8, and 11 months after IFN discontinuation, respectively. Of the 10 patients not receiving IFN-α treatment, eight eventually lost MMR. The MR-free survival rate was significantly different between the patients treated with and those treated without IFN-α over 24 months (70.7% versus 15.0%, p = 0.002). Conclusion: These results indicate that after TKI discontinuation, IFN-α can be administered to patients with 0.0032% <BCR-ABLIS ⩽0.1%, which may help prevent MR.