Objective: To explore the prognostic significance of Ph-positive and/or BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph⁺ ALL).
Methods: A retrospective analysis of 72 patients with Ph⁺ ALL to probe prognostic factors including sex, age, high white cell counts at diagnosis, additional chromosome abnormality, BCR-ABL transcripts type, imatinib based therapy, allo-HSCT and complete remission (CR) after one-course induction on the outcomes of Ph⁺ALL patients.
Results: Of 72 patients with median age 40.5 (13-68) years, 38 patients received imatinib plus chemotherapy. With median follow-up of 11 (0.2-96) months, total CR rate in patients receiving imatinib plus chemotherapy was higher than of patients receiving chemotherapy only (97.4% vs 62.3%, P=0.019). High white blood counts at diagnosis or additional chromosome abnormality had no effects on CR rate. 2-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) in imatinib plus chemotherapy group were (28.9±7.4) % and (25±7.4) %, respectively, which were higher than those in chemotherapy group (P<0.001). OS rate in HSCT group was significantly higher than that in non-HSCT group[ (61.1±11.5) % vs (5.6±3.1) %, P<0.001]. Multivariate prognostic analysis for OS showed that imatinib-based therapy [RR=0.413 (95% CI 0.237-0.721), P=0.002], allo-HSCT [RR=0.175 (95% CI 0.075-0.389), P=0.000] and CR after one-course induction [RR=0.429 (95% CI 0.245-0.750), P=0.003] were of importance for survival.
Conclusion: allo-HSCT was an optimal choice for Ph⁺ALL patients. Imatinib-based therapy could increase CR rate, maintain CR duration and decrease relapse, resulting in more chance of HSCT. Imatinib improved the outcomes of Ph⁺ALL patients who were not eligible for HSCT.