ANDREAS BURCHERT (MARBURG)
INTERFERON ALPHA
Interferon alpha (IFN) has been the previous standard of care in CML, especially in patients
ineligible to undergo allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
Current treatment standard for all CML patients are ABL-specific TKI. Imatinib has essentially
normalised life expectancy with CML.
While second generation TKI may induce molecular remission faster and in a greater
proportion of patients compared to imatinib, a combination the different modes of action of
TKI (imatinib or second generation TKI) and IFN might translate into a higher proportion of
patients that are capable of durably discontinuing all CML treatment. The ongoing randomized
german CML-V (TIGER) and the randomized german/french ENDURE study currently address
this important question.
