Targeted treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia: role of imatinib.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Tamascar, Ila Ramanarayanan, Jeyanthi
Abstract	Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder characterized by clonal expansion of pleuripotent hematopoetic stem cells. The incidence of CML is 1 to 2 cases per 100,000 people per year; in the Western Hemisphere, CML accounts for 15% of leukemias in adults. Discovery of the specific karyotypic abnormality of the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome in the pathogenesis of CML has led to a better understanding of the disease and hence to an advancement of targeted therapeutics. Availability of imatinib as an accepted targeted therapy in newly diagnosed patients has changed the treatment paradigm in CML. The majority of CML patients in chronic phase achieve excellent and durable responses with standard-dose imatinib. Mechanisms of primary and secondary resistance to imatinib in CML have been extensively studied and newer tyrosine kinase inhibitors are now being evaluated for clinical use. It is important that at any time the CML treatment and response remain optimal and thus patients on imatinib require continuous monitoring for early detection of resistance. This review will discuss the treatment and guidelines for monitoring CML patients in the imatinib era.
Journal	Oncotargets and Therapy
Volume Number	2
PubMed Central reference number	PMC2886320
PubMed reference number	20616895
e-ISSN	11786930
DOI	10.2147/ott.s3993
Language	English
Publisher	Dove Medical Press
Publisher Date	2009-02-18
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2009 Tamascar and Ramanarayanan, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd.
Subject Keyword	BCR-ABL imatinib tyrosine kinase inhibitors leukemia CML
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Pharmacology (medical) Oncology