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BackgroundMost patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) will relapse if treatment is withdrawn, but various trials have recently demonstrated that a significant proportion of patients who achieved a stable and deep molecular response (DMR) can stop therapy without relapsing. However, most information on treatment cessation was obtained from clinical trials with strict recruiting criteria.MethodsWe evaluated the outcome of 25 patients with CML that discontinued TKI therapy in our institute in real-world clinical practice.ResultsOf the 25 patients, 76% discontinued therapy in sustained deep molecular response (SDMR) and 24% were in unsustained DMR (UDMR). Discontinuation of therapy due to adverse effects was observed in 5 and 50% of the patients in the SDMR and UDMR groups, respectively. After TKI discontinuation, patients were followed for a median of 24 months. At the time of this analysis, 56% patients had a molecular relapse after a median of 4 months. SDMR and longer treatment duration were associated with lower probability of molecular relapse: 25% in SDMR patients with TKI treatment > 96 months and 85% in UDMR patients with TKI treatment ≤96 months. All relapsed patients promptly resumed TKI therapy and regained at least major molecular response (MMR).ConclusionsOur results suggest that TKI discontinuation is safe outside clinical trials and particularly effective in CML patients who are in SDMR with longer TKI treatment duration.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-5167-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abstract. Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by sustained neutrophilia and the absence of the Philadelphia chromosome or the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. The present study reports the case of a 59-year-old Caucasian female that was referred to The Francisco Gentil Portuguese Institute of Oncology (Porto, Portugal) with constitutional symptoms (mainly asthenia), marked leukocytosis (51.33x10 9 /l with 90% neutrophils), macrocytic anemia and splenomegaly. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy revealed hypercellular marrow with clear predominance of segmented neutrophils. The karyotype was normal and the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene was not detected. After excluding a leukemoid reaction, a diagnosis of CNL was established. The clinical follow-up was complicated by hemorrhagic brain lesions and relapsing episodes of erythematous, well-demarcated and painful subcutaneous nodular lesions, consistent with Sweet's syndrome (SS). Multiple treatment strategies were administered, including use of hydroxyurea, imatinib and intensive chemotherapy. Nevertheless, progression was documented and the patient succumbed at 28 months post-diagnosis. The clinical course of CNL varies, and can be complicated by cerebral hemorrhage, blastic transformation or infection. Dermatological manifestations such as SS have seldom been reported in association. No evidence-based treatment currently exists and the majority of our knowledge is based on results from case reports and small series.

Chromosomal rearrangements affecting the MLL gene are associated with high‐risk pediatric, adult and therapy‐associated acute leukemia. In this study, conventional cytogenetic, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and molecular genetic studies were used to characterize the type and frequency of MLL rearrangements in a consecutive series of 45 Portuguese patients with MLL‐related leukemia treated in a single institution between 1998 and 2011. In the group of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and an identified MLL fusion partner, 47% showed the presence of an MLL–AFF1 fusion, as a result of a t(4;11). In the remaining cases, a MLL–MLLT3 (27%), a MLL–MLLT1 (20%), or MLL–MLLT4 (7%) rearrangement was found. The most frequent rearrangement found in patients with acute myeloid leukemia was the MLL–MLLT3 fusion (42%), followed by MLL–MLLT10 (23%), MLL–MLLT1 (8%), MLL–ELL (8%), MLL–MLLT4 (4%), and MLL–MLLT11 (4%). In three patients, fusions involving MLL and a septin family gene (SEPT2, SEPT6, and SEPT9), were identified. The most frequently identified chromosomal rearrangements were reciprocal translocations, but insertions and deletions, some cryptic, were also observed. In our series, patients with MLL rearrangements were shown to have a poor prognosis, regardless of leukemia subtype. Interestingly, children with 1 year or less showed a statistically significant better overall survival when compared with both older children and adults. The use of a combined strategy in the initial genetic evaluation of acute leukemia patients allowed us to characterize the pattern of MLL rearrangements in our institution, including our previous discovery of two novel MLL fusion partners, the SEPT2 and CT45A2 genes, and a very rare MLL–MLLT4 fusion variant.

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