Applied Mathematics Seminar

Strategic Treatment Interruptions During Imatinib Treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Dana Paquin
Cal Poly

Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 11:10am-12:00pm
Math Dept Seminar Room (25-208D)

Abstract:

Although imatinib is an effective treatment for chronic myelogenous  
leukemia (CML), and nearly all patients treated with imatinib attain  
some form of remission, imatinib does not completely eliminate  
leukemia, and if the imatinib treatment is stopped, all patients  
eventually relapse.  We use a mathematical model of CML to study  
strategic treatment interruptions (STIs) as a potential therapeutic  
strategy for CML patients.  We present the results of numerous  
treatment programs in which imatinib treatment is temporarily stopped  
to stimulate and leverage the anti-leukemia immune response to combat  
CML.  The simulations presented in this paper imply that treatment  
programs that involve STIs may prevent leukemia from relapsing and may  
prevent remission for significantly longer than continuous imatinib  
treatment.  Moreover, in many cases, STIs may completely eliminate  
leukemic cells from the body.  Thus, STIs may be a feasible clinical  
approach to enhancing the effects of imatinib treatment for CML.  We  
study the effects of both the timing and the duration of the treatment  
interruption on the results of the treatment.  We also present a  
sensitivity analysis of the results to the parameters in the  
mathematical model.