Are Successful Pregnancies an Achievable Goal in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia?

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, when the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib was introduced as a front-line treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia, the disease’s course and prognosis has dramatically changed. The development of second-line and further-line more potent generations of TKI has further improved disease control and patients’ quality of life; however, during this time, many questions such as the duration of treatment, the depth of response, fertility, pregnancy, and family planning, have been raised. Recent prospective and retrospective discontinuation trials for TKI have shown encouraging results regarding the cessation of TKI treatment and maintaining complete molecular response. The authors report three cases of female patients diagnosed with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia who achieved a long-term deep molecular response; had planned management during pregnancy, including regular molecular monitoring with or without INF-α; and all delivered healthy babies.