Unravelling a clinical role of peripheral blood leukemia stem cells at diagnosis in chronic myeloid leukemia patients: Final results of prospective FLOWERS study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The authors previously demonstrated that in peripheral blood (PB) of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), patients' leukemia stem cells (LSCs) CD26+ are detectable by flow cytometry at diagnosis, during tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy, and during treatment-free remission.

Methods

This study presents results of a prospective multicenter study including 242 newly diagnosed CML patients monitored for PB CD26+ leukemic stem cells (LSCs) quantification from diagnosis up to 24 months of TKI treatment.

Results

The bulk of CD26+ LSCs at diagnosis varied between patients with a median value of 7.14 cells/µL. During TKI treatment, it has been observed their consistent and rapid reduction without statistical differences according to type of first-line TKI. Instead,

SUBMITTER: Sicuranza A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12526715 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature