Decreasing trend in mortality of chronic myelogenous leukemia patients after introduction of imatinib in Japan and the U.S.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Although the impact of imatinib in improving survival outcomes in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients has been widely reported, its impact on mortality from CML has not been evaluated. A survival benefit demonstrated in clinical trials does not simply translate to a decrease in mortality. To evaluate the impact of imatinib on the public health, we estimated the age-standardized mortality rate of CML patients in Japan and the U.S. using vital statistics data for Japan and data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute for the U.S.

Patients and methods

The period covered in this analysis is 1993-2008, during which 64,203 patients in Japan and 26,888 patients in nine registries in the U.S. died as a resu

SUBMITTER: Chihara D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3528387 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature