Long-term effect of homoharringtonine on chronic granulocytic leukemia

Objective: To observe the long-term effect of homoharringtonine (HHT) on chronic granulocytic leukemia (CGL) and its pharmacological mechanism. Methods: 76 patients with newly diagnosed early chronic phase CGL received treatment of merely 1.5 mg/m 2 daily HHT for induction remission and long-term maintenance treatment. The apoptosis rate of bone marrow CD34 + cells induced by HHT was assayed with flow cytometer. Results: 86.8% patients achieved CHR, 13.2% patients PHR and 31.8% patients got cytogenetic response in HHT treatment group, which was longer than 31 (8–54) months in hydroxyurea (HU) group ( P <0.05). The effect of apoptosis induction HHT was stronger on CGL-CP patients bone marrow CD34 + cells than on normal person bone marrow CD34 + cells. Conclusion: HHT is a very effective drug for remission induction and long-term maintenance treatment in early chronic phase CGL patients.