Discontinuation of Gleevec

[Guest guest]

Thanks , that was relevant. I would be afraid of playing Russian

Roulette, even though some patients were doing well without it. The end of the

article does not advocate for stopping Gleevec, probably because there is still

not enough evidence and good calibrations from the different instruments used

not all being equal. That seems to me to be a small cohort of patients in this

study. Quoting from the article:

" As shown in our study, 50% of patients in complete molecular remission for more

than 2 years remain in molecular remission after 18 months of follow-up.

However, we do not widely recommend imatinib discontinuation at the present

time. We have initiated a large prospective study to better characterize

patients with undetectable BCR-ABL. "

I think that all the patients had minimal residual disease and for many of

us, that is just not the case. For some this would make a strong case for not

stopping any CML meds at this time. It was interesting to read, however, that

the median age was 42 to 83. Wow, that's even past my age and I am older than

dirt. LOL. This would make for a lively discussion.

Peace and blessings,

Lottie