Standard-dose imatinib plus low-dose homoharringtonine and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor is an effective induction therapy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in myeloid blast crisis who have failed prior single-agent therapy with imatinib.

We investigated the efficacy of the induction therapy involving granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and low-dose homoharringtonine as well as standard-dose imatinib, which we called the G-CSF + homoharringtonine + imatinib (GHI) regimen, in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis who have failed prior single-agent therapy with imatinib. Twelve patients were enrolled. The GHI regimen consisted in a unique induction course where imatinib was administered at 400 mg day(-1) until remission, together with homoharringtonine (1 mg/m(2) s.c. twice daily for 14 days every 28 days), and G-CSF, which was administered 1 day before chemotherapy (5 µg/kg s.c. daily). Patients who failed to obtain at least a partial hematologic response (PHR) after three courses were taken off study. Patients who responded to induction treatment and who had a matched donor received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The results demonstrates that the GHI regimen re-induce hematologic responses or improve the cytogenetic responses in all evaluable patients. Furthermore, eligible patients have benefited from allo-HSCT after response to this induction treatment. We conclude that the GHI regimen may overcome disease-poor response to conventional doses of imatinib and this approach deserves further evaluation as frontline therapy for newly diagnosed CML.