Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Prognosis and Evolution

Abstract

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a clonal myeloproliferative disorder, is characterized by a biphasic or triphasic course. The disease is diagnosed in the chronic phase in over 80% of patients, 10% in the accelerated phase, and, another 10% of patients in blast crisis. The median survival in the chronic phase with conventional chemotherapy is 35 to 65 months, being improved by the tyrosine kinase inhibitors-88% of patients at 72 months. The clonal evolution and genetic instability are the main causes of the progression of the disease in the accelerated phase or blast crisis, in these conditions, the survival rate is significantly lower.