Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Health Center

Targeted therapy is a form of treatment that uses medications or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal and unaffected cells. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib (sold as Gleevec), nilotinib (Tasigna) and dasatinib (Sprycel) are targeted therapy pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of CML.

Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for cancer that works to stop the growth of cancer cells either by killing the cells directly or keeping them from dividing and therefore multiplying to further invade the body. Depending on the type, chemotherapy can be taken by mouth or injected into a central vein or muscle, dispersing the medication throughout the entire body. This is called systemic chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can also be directly injected into the cerebrospinal fluid, any organ or a body cavity such as the abdomen. This regional chemotherapy mainly affects the cancer cells only in that particular area. The way chemotherapy is administered depends on cancer type and phase. Talk to your doctor when thinking about or choosing chemotherapy as a treatment to learn what would work best for you and your cancer.

Biologic therapy is a treatment that uses the body's immune system to fight back at invading cancer. Also known as biotherapy or immunotherapy, this option uses substances already created in the body or in a laboratory to increase, guide or restore the body's natural defenses against cancer.

High dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant is a method of administering high doses of chemotherapy and replacing blood-forming cells destroyed by cancer treatment. Stem cells or immature blood cells are removed from blood or bone marrow of the patient or a donor then frozen and stored. After the completion of chemotherapy treatment, the stored stem cells are thawed and infused back into the patient. These replenished stem cells grow into and restore the body's blood cells.

A donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is a treatment option that may be used after a stem cell transplant. Lymphocytes, which are a form of white blood cells, from the stem cell transplant are removed from the donor's blood and may then be frozen for storage. The lymphocytes are thawed then given to the patient through an infusion. These new donor lymphocytes see the patient's cancer cells as foreign to the body and attack them.

A splenectomy or surgery to remove the enlarged or swollen spleen may also be considered.