Complete Molecular Remission in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia after Imatinib Therapy

Abstract
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate specifically inhibits the BCR-ABL kinase, and has shown promising results in phase 1 and 2 trials in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia at various stages of the disease.1,2 We describe a patient in whom a complete molecular response was achieved with no evidence of BCR-ABL messenger RNA (mRNA) six months after treatment with imatinib began.