Recombinant alpha interferon in CML

Recombinant alpha interferon was the standard therapy for chronic phase of CML before the introduction of imatinib (1)

• it produces good haematologic response in 60% of patients in the chronic phase of CML, 20% of which additionally lose the Philadelphia chromosome
• restoration of Ph-negative haemopoiesis is not achieved with any other therapeutic intervention in CML. However, the significance of this is not yet known.

Administration is by daily subcutaneous injections of 3-9 MU.

The main side effect is influenza like symptoms which often resolve within weeks of initiating treatment.

Current European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines does not recommend alpha interferon monotherapy (although a combination of IFN with imatinib is currently being tested) (2).

Reference:

• (1) Hehlmann R et al. Chronic myeloid leukaemia. Lancet. 2007;370(9584):342-50.
• (2) Baccarani M et al. Chronic myeloid leukaemia: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann Oncol. 2010;21 Suppl 5:v165-7.