Fruehauf and colleagues (2007) discussed the combination of mitoxanthrone and etoposide to treat a
blast crisis.
Soupir et al3 performed a multi-institutional retrospective analysis of cases of Ph+ AMLs and CML in
blast crisis and showed that Ph+ AMLs differed from CML in
blast crisis by different clinical pictures (no splenomegaly nor basophilia in Ph+ AML), bone marrow morphology (lower cellularity and myeloid to erythroid ratio in Ph+ AML), cytogenetic findings (characteristic other chromosomal abnormalities usually found in CML were not seen in Ph+ AML), and response to chemotherapy (return to normal karyotype was observed in cases of Ph+ AML, whereas persistence of Ph+ was seen in CML); however, the median survival was similar between the 2 groups.
Our findings also suggest that maintaining the level of this microRNA might represent a new therapeutic strategy for CML
blast crisis patients who do not benefit from targeted agents such as imatinib (Gleevec) and dasatinib (Sprycel)," Perrotti added.
CML progresses through three distinct phases: the chronic phase (typically lasting from four to five years), the accelerated phase (typically lasting from six to 18 months) and
blast crisis (typically lasting from three to six months).
Researchers also studied the effect of Glivec on patients in
blast crisis - 38 had myeloid
blast crisis and 20 had acute lymphocytic leukemia or lymphoid
blast crisis.
Approximately 3 years after the diagnosis of chronic phase CML, metamorphosis through periods of accelerated growth and
blast crisis occur.
Combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs or autologous bone marrow transplantation can also be used for the lymphoid or myeloid
blast crisis, but this therapy is more effective if given in the chronic phase of the disease.
It is typically slow-growing and often not diagnosed until its later stages when there can be a sudden, dramatic increase in malignant cells, known as
blast crisis.
Tasigna produced deeper levels of molecular response than Glivec in front-line Ph+ CML and significantly reduced progression to accelerated phase and
blast crisis, resulting in fewer deaths due to CML.
Toluidine blue (TB) is a basic dye that helps in identification of myeloid blasts showing differentiation towards basophils, which may be seen in acute basophilic leukemia, basophilic
blast crisis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and AML with basophilia.
4% of those on imatinib progressed to the accelerated phase or
blast crisis of the disease, said lead investigator Dr.
