Molecular Pathogenesis and Treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Molecular Pathogenesis and Treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia provides a comprehensive understanding of the recent molecular genetics of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) and a characterization of the molecular targets for drug development. Included are therapeutic implications, diagnosis, and prognosis for understanding and facilitating daily practice in the management of patients with CML. Understanding of the pathogenesis and therapy of hematological malignancies such as CML has grown significantly in recent years. This development owes much to the progress in molecular biology and now makes a major contribution to diagnosis and to treatment that pharmacologically targets the epidemic defects of CML. Molecular targeting therapy with newly developed agents such as small molecules and antibodies for hematological malignancies are being discovered after years of research. Some of these, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib, nilotinib, and dasatinib, lead to increased survival rates and improved therapies. In spite of associated adverse cardiac events, ponatinib is showing substantial efficacy in imatinib-resistant cases with T315I gene mutation in the ABL kinase domain. With the opinion leaders of basic and clinical research in the field as authors, this book reviews recent advances in the biology of CML.