LAUSR

I have read with great interest the paper by Saydam et al. [1], reporting results of a company sponsored multicenter study from Turkey which evaluated the efficacy and safety of nilotinib 300 mg twice daily among 112 patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CMLCP). The cumulative rates of complete cytogenetic (CCyR) and major molecular responses (MMR) by 12 months were 89% and 66%, respectively, and the rate of deep molecular response (DMR) was 22% [1]. Fifteen patients quit tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment mainly due to adverse events, and one patient progressed to advanced disease and two patients died due to myocardial infarction. Although the authors once again (but for the first time among Turkish patients) demonstrated that frontline treatment with nilotinib was effective and tolerable in patients with CML-CP, there are some points which need to be clarified.