@article{Wajid_Zeeshan_Mehmood_Sharif_Umair_Ali_2018, title={EARLY MOLECULAR RESPONSE WITH IMATINIB THERAPY IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH BASELINE WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT AND SPLEEN SIZE: Early Molecular Response With Imatinib Therapy}, volume={68}, url={https://pafmj.org/PAFMJ/article/view/2291}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Objectives</strong>: To determine the frequency of early molecular response in patients of chronic myeloid leukemia<br>treated with Imatinib and its association with baseline white blood cell (WBC) count and spleen size.<br><strong>Study Design</strong>: Cross sectional study.<br><strong>Place and Duration of Study</strong>: Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from May to Nov 2017.<br><strong>Material and Methods</strong>: Seventy eight patients of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) were<br>included in the study. Inclusion criteria were: 18 years or older, diagnosed with CML in CP with positive BCR<br>ABL1. Patients who were in accelerated/blast phase, or already taking any Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors or<br>chemotherapy were excluded from the study. Base line WBC count, spleen size and BCR-ABL1 IS values were<br>recorded. All the enrolled patients were placed on Imatinib therapy (400 mg/day) and RT-PCR for BCR ABL1<br>transcript was repeated after three months.<br><strong>Results</strong>: In our study, 60.15% of patients achieved EMR at 3 months after Imatanib therapy (p-value <0.001). In<br>univariate analysis, there was significant association of spleen size, baseline WBC count and percentages of<br>blasts in bone marrow with BCR ABL1 (IS) at 3 months (p-value <0.001), while on multivariate regression model,<br>significant association was found only in spleen size (p-value <0.001) with EMR.<br><strong>Conclusion</strong>: A significant number of patients achieved EMR with Imatinib therapy. Spleen size at diagnosis was<br>the only significant factor associated with achieving EMR. It is imperative to identify patients at an early stage<br>who are unlikely to achieve EMR and therefore have poor over-all survival.</p>}, number={5}, journal={Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal}, author={Wajid, Abdul Ali and Zeeshan, Mansoor and Mehmood, Faisal and Sharif, Imtenan and Umair, Muhammad and Ali, Aamira}, year={2018}, month={Oct.}, pages={1199–1204} }