BCR-ABL Ratios in Patients with CML

Harry Erba, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, director, Hematologic Malignancy Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses BCR-ABL Ratios in patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Clinical Pearls:

• CML patients who are taking ABL-TKI inhibitors and do not reach a BCR-ABL ratio of <10% at 3 months of treatment have a worse prognosis
• Data from an Australian study also found that patients who did not reach this milestone had a worse progression-free and overall survival
• Patients in this study who remained on imatinib and achieved a 6-month goal of a BCR-ABL ratio of <1% had a progression-free and overall survival similar to patients who achieved a BCR-ABL ratio of <10% at 3 months