Suppression of clonal evolution in two chronic myelogenous leukaemia patients treated with leucocyte interferon

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Abstract
Summary: Two patients with Philadelphia chromosome‐positive (Ph1 +) chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) were treated with human leucocyte interferon (HuIFN‐α). Karyotypic changes in addition to the Ph1 chromosome developed in these patients before the start of HuIFN‐α treatment. In one patient the administration of HuIFN‐α resulted in clinical haematological remission and stable suppression of the secondary Ph1 clone. The second patient was in myeloid blastic crisis when given HuIFN‐α. While she was receiving HuIFN‐α, suppression of the blast cell population in the bone marrow occurred. The subsequent cytogenetic changes included a near‐complete suppression of a secondary Ph1 clone of cells carrying a deletion in the short arm of chromosome 7 and partial population of the bone marrow with primary Ph1 clone. These observations suggest a potential role for interferons in altering the progressive course of CML.