Background: Currently, the goal of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment is normal survival and good quality of life without life-long treatment, namely, "treatment-free remission" (TFR). At present, approximately only 50% of patients with CML with a deep molecular response are able to discontinue tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) without experiencing molecular relapse [MR; loss of major molecular response (MMR)]. In addition, prior interferon (IFN) treatment is associated with a higher rate of TFR.

Methods: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of TKI discontinuation in Chinese patients with CML and determine whether IFN could prevent MR when used after TKI discontinuation in patients with 0.0032% 

Results: Forty-nine patients who discontinued TKI therapy after achieving MR 4.5 were included in this study, and the median follow-up time from TKI discontinuation was 27 (7, 75) months. Nineteen patients eventually lost MMR, and the TFR rate of the 49 patients was 67% (95% confidence interval 53.6%, 80.3%) at 12 months. The duration of MR 4.5 ⩾54 months and duration of imatinib ⩾85 months were significantly associated with a higher TFR rate. Of the 22 patients with 0.0032% 

Conclusions: These results indicate that after TKI discontinuation, IFN-α can be administered to patients with 0.0032%