Pattern of chronic myeloid leukemia in the Congo

Objectives: Chronic myeloid leukemia is a clonal myeloproliferative disorder caused by reciprocal translocation t (9;22)  that induces tyrosin kinase protein. Imatinib is a selective inhibitor of this protein. Aim of this study is to describe, the clinical and biological feature of chronic myeloid leukemia in the Congo. Material and Methods: The study is a retrospective study which conducted in Clinical Hematology unit of teaching hospital in Brazzaville, Congo on newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. A total of 25 males and 14 females with a mean age of 36 years (16 and 69 years) at time of the diagnosis were enrolled in the study. Results: The mean duration of the illness at the time of the diagnosis was 11.4 months (0.5 and 50 months). Patients presented with a splenomegaly, mean leukocytosis rate at 168.5g/l (14.6-381 g/l), moderate anemia at 8.4 g/dl (3.1 and 12.8 g/dl) and normal platelet rate at 415.4 g/dl (164 and 998 g/l). Thirty eight on thirty nine patients (97.43 %) presented at chronic phase and the Sokal score was high in 46.2%. Imatinib induced complete hematologic response at 3 months in all patients. Complete cytogenetic response was achieved in 20.51%. The median follow up period was months. The Overall Survival was 86.6% at 26 months and Progression Free Survival was 91.8% at 12 months. Conclusion: This meta analysis report represents the clinical and biological pattern of chronic myeloid leukemia in the Congo .