0000000000895441
AUTHOR
Klaus Lechner
Imatinib compared with interferon and low-dose cytarabine for newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia.
Imatinib, a selective inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, produces high response rates in patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who have had no response to interferon alfa. We compared the efficacy of imatinib with that of interferon alfa combined with low-dose cytarabine in newly diagnosed chronic-phase CML.We randomly assigned 1106 patients to receive imatinib (553 patients) or interferon alfa plus low-dose cytarabine (553 patients). Crossover to the alternative group was allowed if stringent criteria defining treatment failure or intolerance were met. Patients were evaluated for hematologic and cytogenetic responses, toxic effects, and rates of progression.Afte…
Effect of interleukin-3 pretreatment on granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor induced mobilization of circulating haemopoietic progenitor cells.
Recombinant human colony stimulating factors (CSFs) as single agents are increasingly used for mobilizing peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) for stem cell transplantation. We have shown in rhesus monkeys that interleukin-3 (IL-3) pretreatment markedly potentiated the increase in PBPC numbers of subsequent administration of granulocyte/macrophage-CSF (GM-CSF). Here we studied the effect of IL-3 pretreatment on GM-CSF-induced mobilization of PB progenitors in patients who were potential candidates for autologous stem cell transplantation (n = 16). Patients were treated with GM-CSF at a dose of 5 micrograms/kg/d for 5 d and after a treatment free interval received another cycle of GM-CS…