Today, chemotherapy is rarely used to fight CML. It is used prior to a bone marrow transplant to prepare the body for the transplant, or occasionally as a last resort during CML blast crisis if all else has failed (just to relieve some of the suffering).
The following link is from a discussion with Dr Moshe Talpaz regarding the history of CML research and treatment, and he discusses chemotherapy use for CML prior to Gleevec: http://www.healthtalk.com/otherconditions/programs/14_458/page01.cfm "Between 1975 and 1981 was the period of intensive chemotherapy. At that time, the doctors decided to treat CML like AML (acute myelogenous leukemia), with aggressive chemotherapy, and it probably had some positive impact but not a spectacular one. With the introduction of interferon, the interesting point is that 40 percent of the patients were alive at 10 years. It is a major change compared to the previous figures. On a combination of interferon with chemotherapy - this is still the pre-Gleevec [imatinib] era - and the 10-year survival was improved to 60 percent of the patients. So the envelope is really being pushed. The patients are living better and better and longer and longer. This is still with therapy that is, to a large extent, empirical, and the mechanism of which was not always understood." He then goes on to describe how Gleevec changed CML treatment in a dramatic way. If the previous posting on this site "Share yr leukemia story" was the reason for your question, that person has acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and chemotherapy is still a primary treatment option for that form of leukemia. --Trey --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
