Ph: not bad at all.

摘要

In this issue of Blood, Marzocchi et al (on be-I half of the GIMEMA [Italian Group for He-matologic Malignancies of the Adults] CML Working Party) report for the first time a large systematic analysis of the role of variant Ph translocations in newly diagnosed CML patients in chronic phase. These variant translocations implicate another breakpoint. The mechanisms of generation of the translocations are not fully understood. In addition, the prognostic implication of these cytogenetic abnormalities has been studied by several groups with no uniform and clear conclusions.The analysis by Marzocchi and colleagues included 559 patients all in chronic phase treated with either 400- or 800-mg doses of imatinib. All these patients were included in prospective clinical trials. Patients were followed with real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) every 3 to 6 months and by cytogenetic and FISH analysis.