Possible role for gene expression profiling in predicting responses to conventional or targeted drugs in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract

The introduction of imatinib has profoundly changed the clinical management and prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, prognostic scores introduced during the interferon-era have lost their prognostic value when applied to patients treated with imatinib. Gene expression profiling represents a unique and powerful tool for the identification of responders and non-responders to cancer therapy. Thus, this technology may also represent a valuable strategy to identify patients with insufficient response prior to or during imatinib treatment, who might benefit from alternative treatment modalities. This review will briefly summarize the recently published data on gene expression profiling for imatinib response prediction in CML patients.

Keywords:

• CML
• gene expression profiles
• CD34⁺ stem cells
• prognostication