Lichtgedanken 03

S C HW E R P U N K T 48 Surviving with leukaemia Targeted therapy for chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) continues to be effective and to have few side effects, even over a period of 11 years. This was the result obtained by a team led by Jena haematologist Prof. Andreas Hochhaus in a fresh analysis of the IRIS study. This pioneering clinical trial underpinned the effectiveness of targeted therapy for CML and the accompanying molecular monitoring. M E D I C I N E Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is the second most common form of chronic leukaemia. This disease of the haematopoietic system is caused by a specific genetic mutation (portions of chromosomes 9 and 22 switch places) which leads to a sharp increase in the number of white blood cells. The new active ingredient tested in this trial—a tyrosine kinase inhibitor—specifically inhibits the activation of the altered protein that causes continued division, i.e. reproduction, of the leukaemia cells. These new drugs have fundamental- ly improved therapy for this disease, which previously could only be cured by stem-cell transplantation. »Currently, 83 per cent of CML patients live for 10 years after their diagnosis, which is close to the survival rate in the general population,« says Prof. Andreas Hochhaus, Director of the Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology of Jena University Hospital, describing a key result of a long-term analysis of the IRIS study data. The study was begun in 2000 to compare the effectiveness of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor »Imatinib« with the standard therapy of the time, which was to give patients the immunostimulant interfe- ron alpha. »IRIS« stands for »Interna- tional Randomized Study of Interferon Versus STI571«. The therapeutic response and the toler- ability of »Imatinib« were so good that the majority of patients from the inter- BY UTA VON DER GÖNNA Haematologist Prof. Andreas Hochhaus and his team conducted a fresh analysis of the »IRIS« study, which began in 2000.