No sex-related difference in achievement of treatment-free remission following treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia

Excerpt

In a comparison of studies in which tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) was discontinued, Ureshino et al. pointed out that one of the reasons for the lower treatment-free remission (TFR) rate (38.5%) reported in our study, “Treatment-free remission after first-line dasatinib treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase” [1] was that most of the registered cases were female (nine male, 17 female). Mahon et al. have shown a significantly lower TFR rate in female compared to male in the STIM study [2]. Similarly, the JALSG‑STIM213 study by Takahashi et al. in which more males were registered (42 male, 26 female), showed a favorable TFR rate (67.6%) even compared to other discontinued studies [3]. However, the results of a long-term follow-up of the STIM study showed no patient sex-related differences in the achievement of TRF [4]. In addition, there have been no reports showing sex-related differences in the achievement of TRF in past studies where TKI was discontinued [5]. Although our study also showed no significant difference between male (3/9 [33.3%]) and female, (7/17 [41.2%]), the TFR rate was rather higher in female [1]. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that there are no sex-related differences in the achievement of TFR due to TKI. The ongoing J-SKY study in Japan, a nationwide survey of studies in which TKI was discontinued, includes a large number of cases and thus, will clarify whether there is a sex-related difference in the achievement of TFR due to TKI. …