A retrospective study of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosed and treated at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center during the years 1966-76

Forty patients with chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosed and treated at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, during the period 1966-76 were reviewed. All the patients were treated initially with busulfan (Myleran). Asymptomatic patients or those whose blood counts were stable and remained below 50,000/μl were not treated. Maintenance therapy was not prescribed as a routine. The median survival time of all the patients was over 60 months, longer than reported in the literature. Prognostic parameters for longer survival were found to be Hb level >10 g/dl at the time of diagnosis (P=0.04) and duration of first remission in the chronic stage more than six months (P=0.03). A borderline trend for better survival was found in patients with initial platelet counts above 100,000/μl (P=0.07).