Morimoto A, Ogami A, Chiyonobu T, Takanashi M, Sugimoto T, Imamura T, Ishida H, Yoshihara T, Imashuku S. Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto, Japan. 2004 May;26(5):320-2, PMID: 15111787

This article reports early blastic transformation of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in a child following a complete cytogenetic response induced by imatinib mesylate. A 14-year-old Japanese boy was diagnosed with t(9;22) cryptic CML in the chronic phase and treated with imatinib. A sudden blastic transformation may occur even with a complete cytogenetic response induced by imatinib. CML patients who respond slowly to imatinib may still be candidates for allo-SCT, even when a major cytogenetic response is obtained.