Imatinib Efficacy, Safety and Resistance in Iranian Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Review of Literature

Imatinib is the gold standard in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Resistance to imatinib is interfering with patients’ responses and their survival.

We designed a systematic search to find relevant studies by applying appropriate keywords in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid, ProQuest, Science Direct, and Google scholar for English studies. We also investigated the aforementioned terms’ correspondence in Magiran, Scientific information database (SID), and Google scholar for Persian articles.

25 studies were selected for final analysis. Reported hematologic responses from adult studies ranged 86-99% and major molecular responses were estimated in 38.84% of our patients within 12 months of treatment. The most frequently reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were edema (n=5 studies, 100%) and fatigue and nausea (n=4 studies, 80%); ADR per capita ratio was 1.46. Only one study informed ADRs in pediatrics demonstrating 93% of patients experienced ADRs after receiving imatinib. Most of the Studies (n=4, 67% from 7 studies) considered BCR/ABL point mutation as the main reason for imatinib resistance. Drug-binding sites and P-loop regions were two common sites for BCR/ABL point mutation.

Imatinib as the first-line treatment for CML has been associated with proper and durable responses in Iranian adults and children CML patients. Moreover, Imatinib life-threatening adverse effects were reported as uncommon. Various responses to modified regimens have been reported in resistant patients; therefore, individualized treatment based on mutation type could be recommended.