Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a cancer that affects the white blood cells and causes them to become over-proliferative. These cancerous white blood cells look as if they properly differentiated, but they are not capable of fulfilling their proper function. Thus, the immune system is negatively affected and if a person with CML is left untreated, they will die in short order. Prior to the 1950s, patients would survive for an average of 2.5 years. Then, Busulfan was introduced to the market and the average life expectancy was increased to about 4 years. However, Busulfan was found to kill stem cells and considered to be very detrimental to the health of the patient. Following the introduction of Busulfan, drug known as Hydroxyurea was created. It further increased the life expectancy to around 4.6 years, but also came with its own side effects. One more drug was introduced before oncologists discovered a drug that worked better than all of the others and had low side effects. This miracle drug was known as gleevec and as of 2011, it increased the survival rate of CML to 95%.
Recent comments