Management of Early Stage Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: State-of-the-art Approach and Future Perspectives

Title:Management of Early Stage Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: State-of-the-art Approach and Future Perspectives

Volume: 13 Issue: 7

Author(s): Federica Galaverna, Chiara Ghiggi, Fabio Guolo, Germana Beltrami, Clara Dellepiane, Livia Giannoni, Andrea Carella and Angelo M. Carella

Affiliation:

Keywords: chronic myeloid leukemia, stem cell biology, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, new therapeutic strategies.

Abstract: Tyrosin Kinase inhibitors (TKI), have dramatically changed the natural history of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) leading to an impressive increase in overall survival rates and allowing many CML patients to achieve a close-tonormal life expectancy. Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that these drugs are not curative, about 30-35% of the patients who receive imatinib become resistant or discontinue the drug because of side effects; moreover, 15% of all patients become resistant to all TKIs, a condition which represents the biggest challenge in CML treatment. Recent progresses in CML stem cell biology have identified new agents and therapeutic strategies that can be used to target the CML stem cell compartment. These studies have opened new perspectives and have highlighted key strategies for treating, and possibly curing, CML in the upcoming years.

Cite this article as:

Galaverna Federica, Ghiggi Chiara, Guolo Fabio, Beltrami Germana, Dellepiane Clara, Giannoni Livia, Carella Andrea and Carella M. Angelo, Management of Early Stage Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: State-of-the-art Approach and Future Perspectives, Current Cancer Drug Targets 2013; 13(7) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/15680096113139990087