Long-term prognostic significance of early molecular response to imatinib in newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia : an analysis from the International Randomized Study of Interferon and STI 571 ( IRIS ) *

1Department of Haematology, SA Pathology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia; 2Abt Hämatologie und internistische Onkologie, Klinik für Innere Medizin II, Universitätsklinikum Jena, Jena, Germany; 3Molecular Pathology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, Australia and School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; 4III Medizinische Klinik, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim der Universität Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany; 5Department of Hematology, Central Hospital of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; 6Haematology Department, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom; 7Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR; 8Centre d’Investigation Clinique CIC P 802, Inserm, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, Poitiers, France; 9University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; 10Newcastle University Medical School, Newcastle, United Kingdom; 11Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ; 12Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland; 13Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA; and 14Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA