Inadequate BCR-ABL Monitoring in Imatinib-Treated Patients with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

This study examines the pattern of genetic testing performance for the monitoring of patients with a type of blood cancer, called chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), who are treated with the drug Gleevec® (imatinib). CML, which makes up about 15 to 20 percent of adult leukemias, is associated with a specific genetic mutation resulting in the fusion of two genes: BCR (on chromosome 22) and ABL (on chromosome 9). The amount of this BCR-ABL fusion product can be measured in the body, and quarterly monitoring of this is recommended by cancer experts for all patients with CML while they are on imatinib therapy to make sure that they are responding to therapy and have low BCR-ABL levels.

Medco researchers examined medical claims records of 359 CML patients who were treated with imatinib and found that 60 percent had evidence of at least one test performed at any point in time over 1.5 years, and that only 14 percent had BCR-ABL testing recorded on a consecutive quarterly basis. These findings are important in that regular BCR-ABL monitoring is needed to avoid delay in key decisions about CML treatment, as well as to help insure the best treatment outcome possible.

Presented on May 30, 2009, at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

J Clin Oncol 27:15s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 7077)

E. Stanek, R. E. Aubert, C. Sanders, F. W. Frueh, J. Yao, R. S. Epstein; Medco Health Solutions, Inc., Franklin Lakes, NJ