“How quickly does chronic myeloid leukemia spread?”
My friend's 35 years old, and was recently diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. Just last week. How quickly does this cancer usually spread, and what's the treatment for it like?
2 Answers
It would be highly unlikely for chronic myelocytic leukemia to spread. It is a leukemia and thus may involve the spleen. It is usually treat with oral medications. She is young to be diagnosed with this disease and thus may be a candidate for a clinical trial.
By definition CML is a systemic disease since it arises in the bone marrow that is in multiple areas of the body. Most patients at diagnosis are in chronic phase although there are various parameters that we look at to determine risk stratification. First like therapy is with a class of drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib or nilotinib. Generally well tolerated, although they can cause some edema, rash, diarrhea and less commonly heart problems or pancreatic inflammation.
