Patient Question: Disease: Chronic myeloid leukemia
Description of the disease: A month ago, the examination of leukocytosis, eosinophilia, peripheral blood nodes can be seen in the middle and late juvenile granulocytes, bone penetration results of bone marrow proliferation is extremely active. I had a full physical examination and there was no problem. I took Gleevec for half a month and my blood count returned to normal.
Hope to provide help: please ask the chronic stage of slow particles, can be cured by taking drugs?
Hospital Department: Department of Hematology, Hainan Provincial People’s Hospital
Medication status: Drug name: Gleevec
Dosing instructions: 400mg/day
Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, Department of Hematology, Wang Shunqing replied.
Hello Yongxin friend!
The diagnosis of “chronic myeloid leukemia”, and the treatment with Gleevec to restore normal blood picture, even if you did not give me the bcr/abl fusion gene test results, I believe you must have done the relevant tests and get the positive results.
You asked if you could be “cured” by taking the medication, but I can only tell you “not necessarily”. Only some patients who have been treated with regular TKI inhibitors for 3-5 years with good results may stop taking the medication and not relapse.
We recommend that you follow your doctor’s advice and have your bcr/abl fusion gene levels tested at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after your Gleevec treatment, and your doctor will be able to advise you on your treatment plan.
You should be aware of the China Charity Federation’s Gleevec Gift Program, which can save you a lot of money.
Patient Question.
Thank you for the advice.
I would like to know how long I can live in my case.
When you say that taking medication is not necessarily incurable, is there a possibility that taking medication can cure it?
Because the disease was just detected, the bcr/abl fusion gene is still positive, and this is the result one month before taking the medicine. Now I’m waiting for the bone aspiration for 3 months to see how it goes.
What is the success rate of bone marrow transplant? Can it be cured?
Thank you very much! Thank you!
Wang Shunqing, Department of Hematology, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital replied.
At present, it is believed that only a small number of people can finally stop the drug completely without relapse, which depends on the standardized diagnosis and treatment under the guidance of your doctor.
Although most of them cannot be cured at present, as long as they are effective against Gleevec, they can maintain their medication and have a good quality of life, just like hypertension and other diseases. Because this drug has not been in mass clinical use for a long time, it is impossible to answer how long you will live? All we can say now is that many people have been taking it for 10 years and are living a normal life. Now there are new drugs of second and third generation, which may prove to be curable soon after.
As for bone marrow transplantation, this was the most important treatment before Gleevec and can cure the disease, but there are certain risks and it is not currently used as a routine treatment in the chronic phase.
Patient Question.
Thank you, Director Wang, for your advice!
I am 22 years old and very young, can I have children if I get married in the future? Will the child be hereditary?
Reply from Wang Shunqing, Department of Hematology, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital.
Chronic myeloid leukemia will not be passed on to children. If you have been taking Gleevec, you should not get pregnant during this period because the drug may have an effect on the fetus, and you should stop taking the drug for more than six months before trying to get pregnant. If you choose allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the current technology is able to maintain fertility.