Management of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
Twenty years ago tyrosine kinase-inhibitors (TKIs) of BCR-ABL1 inhibitors were introduced into the therapy of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) turning it from a uniformly fatal disease to one where cure, or at least operational cure, is a reality for many people. However, despite this extraordinary achievement important questions remain. More effective TKI need to be balanced with risk of adverse events. Achieving a high quality-of-life remains a challenge during long-term treatment. Leukemia stem cells persist even in persons with undetectable BCR-ABL1 mRNA transcripts using highly sensitive quantitative reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays. Optimal duration of TKI-therapy is controversial and accurate prediction of the chances of long-term treatment free remission (TFR) remains a matter of debate.
New, more specific drugs and drug combination should help accelerate elimination of residual leukemia stem cells and reduce the risk for adverse events. International recommendations have helped analyze new data and optimize CML management.
With this collection we present key original research, reviews, perspectives and editorials recently published in Leukemia. We hope it will prove useful to persons treating CML, leukemia experts and scientists and to people interested in cancer biology and targeted therapies.
