Sex and Major Molecular Response to Imatinib Treatment for Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Objective: The prognosis for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has been significantly improved in the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) whose leader is Imatinib mesylate (IM). Obtaining a major molecular response (MMR) is a major objective to achieve. However, the difference in response between the two sexes is often controversial. This work aims to evaluate the molecular response according to sex in Algerian patients with chronic phase CML (CML-CP) treated with IM in first intention. Methods: All Novo CML patients benefited from molecular follow-up by quantification of transcripts by real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR). The cumulative incidence of MMR (CIMMR) was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The comparison was made using the parametric Log-Rank test. A value of P ≤ 0.05 is considered significant. Results: Fifty-five patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 45.7 ± 13.9 including 29 men (53%) and 26 women (47%). For women, the incidence of Mb3a2 transcript was higher than that of Mb2a2 (72% vs. 28%, P=0.12). Men, on the other hand, had an almost equal distribution (52% vs. 48%, P = 0.88). The CIMMR for men was lower than that for women (45% vs. 80%, P=0.018). Conclusion: Women seem to respond more favorably to IM than men.