Purpose Imatinib contained chemotherapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) are regarded as a golden standard to treat Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL).However, there are a substantial proportion of patients who are ineligible for allo-HSCT due to lack of suitable donor or transplant contraindications.Interferon-α , either used alone or in combination with imatinib, showed anti-leukemic effect even in some imatinib resistant cases, which raise the question whether sustained integrating imatinib and interferon-α into maintenance therapy can improve outcome.