Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization Analysis of Minimal Residual Disease and the Relevance of the Der(9) Deletion in Imatinib-treated Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Forty-six patients with chronic myeloid leukemia receiving imatinib mesylate (39 in chronic phase, one in accelerated phase, and six in blastic crisis), were studied for a 20-62 month follow-up period by cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization using dual-color, dual-fusion BCR and ABL probes. This approach provided valuable results for disease management of analysis.