The Success of Treatment Free Remission in Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in Clinical Practice: A Single-Centre Retrospective Experience from South Africa

Table 2

European LeukemiaNet requirements for tyrosine kinase inhibitor discontinuation [22].

Mandatory test results	(i) CML in first CP only (data are lacking outside this setting)
	(ii) Motivated patient with structured communication
	(iii) Access to high-quality quantitative PCR using the international scale (IS)
	(iv) Rapid turn-around of PCR
	(v) Patient’s agreement to more frequent monitoring after stopping treatment: monthly for the first 6 months, every 2 months for months 7–12, and every 3 months thereafter
Minimal (stop allowed)	(i) First-line therapy or second-line, if intolerance was the only reason for changing TKI
	(ii) Typical e13a2 or e14a2 BCR-ABL1 transcripts
	(iii) Duration of TKI therapy >5 years (>4 years for 2G-TKI)
	(iv) Duration of DMR (MR4 or better) > 2 years
	(v) No prior treatment failure
Optimal (stop recommended for consideration)	(i) Duration of TKI therapy >5 years
	(ii) Duration of DMR >3 years if MR4

CML: chronic myeloid leukaemia; CP: chronic phase; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; TKI: tyrosine kinase inhibitor; DMR: deep molecular response; MR4: molecular response with log 4 reduction in BCR/ABL transcripts.