Pegylated IFN-α2a combined to imatinib mesylate 600 mg daily can induce complete cytogenetic and molecular responses in a subset of chronic phase CML patients refractory to IFN alone or to imatinib 600 mg daily alone

This phase I/II study was designed to demonstrate the tolerance and the efficacy of a combination of pegylated interferon-α 2a to Imatinib mesylate (IM) 600 mg daily in cytogenetically IM-resistant but in CHR chronic phase CML patients. The combination was generally well tolerated in the 15 evaluable patients. A significant reduction of the Ph1+ BM metaphases was observed in these poor prognosis patients, with 2 long-term CCyR including 2 MMR. After a median follow-up of 43 months, 93% of patients are alive. The addition of PegIFNα2a to IM600 is feasible, and able to overcome resistance within this context.