IMR Press / FBL / Volume 11 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/1792

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Molecularly targeted treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia: beyond the imatinib era
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1 Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts and the Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2006, 11(1), 209–220; https://doi.org/10.2741/1792
Published: 1 January 2006
Abstract

Chronic myeloid leukemia cells contain a BCR-ABL oncoprotein with an enhanced tyrosine kinase activity, which is considered to be the principal 'cause' of the leukemia. Though the precise mechanisms underlying the leukemogenesis remains enigmatic, the use of imatinib to inhibit the dysregulated kinase activity has proved remarkably successful in clinical practice. Imatinib was the first small molecule developed to inhibit BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase activity and its success introduced the current era of molecularly targeted therapies for a number of other malignancies. In patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia who develop resistance to imatinib, the Bcr-Abl signaling pathway is often re-established. This has led to the emergence of a number of alternative treatment strategies designed to target the leukemic cell which are resistant to imatinib.

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