Precision medicine breakthrough for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia
Related Links Research Profile - Dr David Vetrie Institute of Cancer Sciences Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre Research Profile - Professor Tessa Holyoake Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre College of Medicine, Veterinary and Life Sciences Link to paper Scientists at the University of Glasgow have made a second significant breakthrough in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia - using precision medicine to kill more than 90% of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) stem cells. The results are published today in the high impact journal Cancer Discovery . CML is a rare form of blood cancer. An individual gets CML when normal blood stem cells are turned into leukaemic stem cells, or CML stem cells. These CML stem cells then produce large numbers of leukaemic cells which, if left untreated, is fatal. At present, CML patients are treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, otherwise known as TKIs. Treatment of patients with TKIs alone rarely cures the disease but hold its advancement at bay. As a result, many patients need to remain on TKIs for the rest of their lives.
