Increased proportion of mature NK cells is associated with successful imatinib discontinuation in chronic myeloid leukemia.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies suggest that a proportion of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in deep molecular remission can discontinue the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment without disease relapse. In this multi-center, prospective clinical trial (EURO-SKI, NCT01596114) we analyzed the function and phenotype of T and NK cells and their relation to successful TKI cessation. Lymphocyte subclasses were measured from 100 imatinib-treated patients at baseline and 1 month after the discontinuation, and functional characterization of NK and T cells was done from 45 patients. The proportion of NK cells was associated with the molecular relapse-free survival as patients with higher than median NK-cell percentage at the time of drug discontinuation had better probability to stay in remission. Simil

SUBMITTER: Ilander M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5420794 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature