Results of a study at St. Jude show why imatinib (Gleevec) is unable to prevent the relapse of an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Imatinib has improved the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) dramatically.
CML and an aggressive form of ALL share the same mutation, the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph). Ph-postiive cells produce a growth-promoting enzyme BCR-ABL. However, in some aggressive cases of ALL, Ph-positive cells lack a tumor suppressor gene called Arf, which is present in CML cells, say the researchers.
The paper's first author, Richard T. Williams, says that doctors might be able to identify those people with ALL who lack Arf.
1. hi there, the link on the work STUDY appears to be broken - can you post the correct one
thanks
Rob - http://cmlblog.spaces.live.com
Posted at 2:27PM on Sep 10th 2007 by cmlblogger