Efficacy and Safety of a Specific Inhibitor of the BCR-ABL Tyrosine Kinase in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal disorder in which cells of the myeloid lineage undergo massive clonal expansion. The disease progresses through three distinct phases — chronic phase, accelerated phase, and blast crisis — during which the leukemic clone progressively loses its ability to differentiate. 1 , 2 Current therapies include allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and drug regimens including interferon alfa. 3 , 4 Interferon alfa prolongs overall survival but has considerable adverse effects. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, the only curative treatment for CML, is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality and is limited to patients for whom a suitable donor is available. . . .