BCR-ABL Derived Peptide Vaccine in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients with Molecular Minimal Residual Disease During Imatinib: Interim Analysis of a Phase 2 Multicenter GIMEMA CML Working Party Trial.

Abstract Abstract 648 Introduction: Imatinib (IM) 400mg daily is the standard treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients and a complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) is achieved in the majority of patients within one year of treatment. In addition, a considerable number of patients reach a major molecular response (i.e BCR-ABL/ABL ratio <0.1%) but BCR-ABL transcript is still measurable in most of treated patients revealing the persistence of a minimal residual disease (MRD). In a previous small pilot study, vaccinations with p210 b3a2-derived fusion peptides in IM treated CML patients appeared to induce both a peptide specific immune response and a reduction of residual disease …