How long will chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients treated with imatinib mesylate live?
The stepwise approval of imatinib mesylate for the treatment of Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive CML since 2001 occured mainly due to the remarkably high proportion of patients who achieved a partial or complete cytogenetic response. Whereas patients treated with interferon alfa (IFN) showed a major cytogenetic remission (MCR) rate between 7 and 37%,1 the randomized IRIS trial2 demonstrated a remission rate of 85% for patients treated with imatinib within 18 months. As MCR is a surrogate measure only, patients, physicians and sickness funds alike want to know how long patients treated with imatinib will live compared to those treated with IFN, the pharmacotherapy with longest and best follow-up data.There is clear evidence that MCR is a valid surrogate measure for the survival of low- and intermediate-risk patients treated with IFN.3, 4 Assuming this for imatinib-treated patients too, it is possible to estimate their expected survival probabilities by combining the survival increm
