Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Treatment (PDQ�)

General Information About Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a disease in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (also called CML or chronic granulocytic leukemia) is a slowly progressing blood and bone marrow disease that usually occurs during or after middle age, and rarely occurs in children.

Normally, the bone marrow makes bloodstem cells (immature cells) that develop into mature blood cells over time. A blood stem cell may become a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell. The lymphoid stem cell develops into a white blood cell. The myeloid stem cell develops into one of three types of mature blood cells:

• Red blood cells that carry oxygen and other materials to all tissues of the body.

• Platelets that help prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.

• Granulocytes (white blood cells) that fight infection and disease

In CML, too many blood stem cells develop into a type of white blood cell called granulocytes. These granulocytes are abnormal and do not become healthy white blood cells. They may also be called leukemic cells. The leukemic cells can build up in the blood and bone marrow so there is less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. When this happens, infection, anemia, or easy bleeding may occur.

This summary is about chronic myelogenous leukemia. See the following PDQ summaries for more information about leukemia:

• Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment

• Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment

• Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment

• Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia/Other Myeloid Malignancies Treatment

• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Treatment

• Hairy Cell Leukemia Treatment

Possible signs of chronic myelogenous leukemia include tiredness, night sweats, and fever.

These and other symptoms may be caused by CML. Other conditions may cause the same symptoms. A doctor should be consulted if any of the following problems occur:

• Feeling very tired.

• Weight loss for no known reason.

• Night sweats.

• Fever.

• Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs on the left side.

Sometimes CML does not cause any symptoms at all.

Most people with CML have a gene mutation (change) called the Philadelphia chromosome.

Every cell in the body contains DNA (genetic material) that determines how the cell looks and acts. DNA is contained inside chromosomes. In CML, part of the DNA from one chromosome moves to another chromosome. This change is called the ?Philadelphia chromosome.? It results in the bone marrow making an enzyme, called tyrosine kinase, that causes too many stem cells to develop into white blood cells (granulocytes or blasts).

The Philadelphia chromosome is not passed from parent to child.

Tests that examine the blood and bone marrow are used to detect (find) and diagnose chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The following tests and procedures may be used:

• Physical exam and history: An exam of the body to check general signs of health, including checking for signs of disease such as an enlarged spleen. A history of the patient?s health habits and past illnesses and treatments will also be taken.

• Complete blood count (CBC): A procedure in which a sample of blood is drawn and checked for the following:

  • The number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

  • The amount of hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen) in the red blood cells.

  • The portion of the sample made up of red blood cells.

  

• Blood chemistry studies: A procedure in which a blood sample is checked to measure the amounts of certain substances released into the blood by organs and tissues in the body. An unusual (higher or lower than normal) amount of a substance can be a sign of disease in the organ or tissue that makes it.

• Cytogenetic analysis: A test in which cells in a sample of blood or bone marrow are viewed under a microscope to look for certain changes in the chromosomes, such as the Philadelphia chromosome.

• Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy: The removal of bone marrow, blood, and a small piece of bone by inserting a needle into the hipbone or breastbone. A pathologist views the bone marrow, blood, and bone under a microscope to look for abnormal cells.

Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.

The prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options depend on the following:

• The patient?s age.

• The phase of CML.

• The amount of blasts in the blood or bone marrow.

• The size of the spleen at diagnosis.

• The patient?s general health.

Stages of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

After chronic myelogenous leukemia has been diagnosed, tests are done to find out if the cancer has spread.

Staging is the process used to find out how far the cancer has spread. There is no standard staging system for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Instead, the disease is classified by phase: chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blastic phase. It is important to know the phase in order to plan treatment. The following tests and procedures may be used to find out the phase:

• Cytogenetic analysis: A test in which cells in a sample of blood or bone marrow are viewed under a microscope to look for certain changes in the chromosomes, such as the Philadelphia chromosome.

• Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy: The removal of bone marrow, blood, and a small piece of bone by inserting a needle into the hipbone or breastbone. A pathologist views the bone marrow, blood, and bone under a microscope to look for abnormal cells.

There are three ways that cancer spreads in the body.

When cancer cells spread outside the blood, a solid tumor may form. This process is called metastasis. The three ways that cancer cells spread in the body are:

• Through the blood. Cancer cells travel through the blood, invade solid tissues in the body, such as the brain or heart, and form a solid tumor.

• Through the lymph system. Cancer cells invade the lymph system, travel through the lymph vessels, and form a solid tumor in other parts of the body.

• Through solid tissue. Cancer cells that have formed a solid tumor spread to tissues in the surrounding area.

The new (metastatic) tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary cancer. For example, if leukemia cells spread to the brain, the cancer cells in the brain are actually leukemia cells. The disease is metastatic leukemia, not brain cancer.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia has 3 phases.

As the amount of blast cells increases in the blood and bone marrow, there is less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This may result in infections, anemia, and easy bleeding, as well as bone pain and pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs on the left side. The number of blast cells in the blood and bone marrow and the severity of symptoms determine the phase of the disease.

Chronic phase

In chronic phase CML, fewer than 10% of the cells in the blood and bone marrow are blast cells.

Accelerated phase

In accelerated phase CML, 10% to 19% of the cells in the blood and bone marrow are blast cells.

Blastic phase

In blastic phase CML, 20% or more of the cells in the blood or bone marrow are blast cells. When tiredness, fever, and an enlarged spleen occur during the blastic phase, it is called blast crisis.

Relapsed Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

In relapsedCML, the number of blast cells increases after a remission.

Treatment Option Overview

There are different types of treatment for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Different types of treatment are available for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.

Six types of standard treatment are used:

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are targeted therapy drugs used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Imatinib mesylate, nilotinib, and dasatinib are tyrosine kinase inhibitors that may be used as initial treatment for newly diagnosed patients with chronic phase CML.

See Drugs Approved for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia for more information.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the cerebrospinal fluid, an organ, or a body cavity such as the abdomen, the drugs mainly affect cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy). The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.

See Drugs Approved for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia for more information.

Biologic therapy

Biologic therapy is a treatment that uses the patient?s immune system to fight cancer. Substances made by the body or made in a laboratory are used to boost, direct, or restore the body?s natural defenses against cancer. This type of cancer treatment is also called biotherapy or immunotherapy.

See Drugs Approved for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia for more information.

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant

High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant is a method of giving high doses of chemotherapy and replacing blood-forming cells destroyed by the cancer treatment. Stem cells (immature blood cells) are removed from the blood or bone marrow of the patient or a donor and are frozen and stored. After the chemotherapy is completed, the stored stem cells are thawed and given back to the patient through an infusion. These reinfused stem cells grow into (and restore) the body?s blood cells.

See Drugs Approved for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia for more information.

Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI)

Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is a cancer treatment that may be used after stem cell transplant. Lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) from the stem cell transplant donor are removed from the donor?s blood and may be frozen for storage. The donor?s lymphocytes are thawed if they were frozen and then given to the patient through one or more infusions. The lymphocytes see the patient?s cancer cells as not belonging to the body and attack them.

Surgery

Splenectomy is surgery to remove the spleen.

New types of treatment are being tested in clinical trials.

Information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial.

For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the cancer research process. Clinical trials are done to find out if new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.

Many of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients who take part in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.

Patients who take part in clinical trials also help improve the way cancer will be treated in the future. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help move research forward.

Patients can enter clinical trials before, during, or after starting their cancer treatment.

Some clinical trials only include patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose cancer has not gotten better. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to stop cancer from recurring (coming back) or reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are taking place in many parts of the country. See the Treatment Options section that follows for links to current treatment clinical trials. These have been retrieved from NCI's listing of clinical trials.

Follow-up tests may be needed.

Some of the tests that were done to diagnose the cancer or to find out the stage of the cancer may be repeated. Some tests will be repeated in order to see how well the treatment is working. Decisions about whether to continue, change, or stop treatment may be based on the results of these tests. This is sometimes called re-staging.

Some of the tests will continue to be done from time to time after treatment has ended. The results of these tests can show if your condition has changed or if the cancer has recurred (come back). These tests are sometimes called follow-up tests or check-ups.

Treatment Options for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Treatment of chronic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia may include the following:

• Targeted therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

• High-dose chemotherapy with donorstem cell transplant.

• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without chemotherapy.

• Chemotherapy.

• Splenectomy.

• A clinical trial of lower-dose chemotherapy with donor stem cell transplant.

• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with chronic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Accelerated Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Treatment of accelerated phase chronic myelogenous leukemia may include the following:

• Stem cell transplant.

• Targeted therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

• Biologic therapy (interferon) with or without chemotherapy.

• High-dose chemotherapy.

• Chemotherapy.

• Transfusiontherapy to replace red blood cells, platelets, and sometimes white blood cells, to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.

• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with accelerated phase chronic myelogenous leukemia. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Blastic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Treatment of blastic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia may include the following:

• Targeted therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

• Chemotherapy using one or more drugs.

• High-dose chemotherapy.

• Donorstem cell transplant.

• Chemotherapy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.

• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with blastic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Relapsed Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Treatment of relapsedchronic myelogenous leukemia may include the following:

• Targeted therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

• Donorstem cell transplant.

• Donor lymphocyte infusion.

• Biologic therapy (interferon).

• A clinical trial of new types or higher doses of targeted therapy and donor stem cell transplant.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with relapsing chronic myelogenous leukemia. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

To Learn More About Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

For more information from the National Cancer Institute about chronic myelogenous leukemia, see the following:

• Leukemia Home Page

• What You Need to Know About? Leukemia

• Targeted Cancer Therapies

• Understanding Cancer Series: Targeted Therapies

• Drugs Approved for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

• Drugs Approved for Myeloproliferative Disorders

• Biological Therapies for Cancer: Questions and Answers

• Understanding Cancer Series: Blood Stem Cell Transplants

• Bone Marrow Transplantation and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

For general cancer information and other resources from the National Cancer Institute, see the following:

• What You Need to Know About? Cancer

• Understanding Cancer Series: Cancer

• Cancer Staging

• Chemotherapy and You: Support for People With Cancer

• Radiation Therapy and You: Support for People With Cancer

• Coping with Cancer: Supportive and Palliative Care

• Cancer Library

• Information For Survivors/Caregivers/Advocates

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Changes to This Summary (09/27/2011)

The PDQcancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

Images were added to this summary.

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