Molecular pathogenesis of chronic myeloid leukemia

Summary Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a paradigm for effective targeted therapy and is characterized by the hallmark BCR-ABL1 fusion. Although survival of affected patients has dramatically increased with the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, kinase-dependent and -independent resistance mechanisms remain a problem and therefore new clinical strategies based on our growing knowledge of cellular processes are required. New diagnostic opportunities support this task and will change disease management in the future.