Relapse occurs when a patient initially responds to treatment, but after six months or more, the response stops.
Patients’ resistance or intolerance to their current TKI is normally due to their BCR-ABL1 mutation.
Patients usually respond well to being re-treated. Commonly following resistance to a TKI, haematologists will prescribe a different TKI.
NICE recommend nilotinib and bosutinib as treatment options for patients in any phase of their CML who have relapsed.