Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Newly Diagnosed?
We Can Help

Information for those newly diagnosed with leukemia

If you or your loved one has been diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is ready to help. Our experienced team of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who treat CML is dedicated to providing the highest-quality treatment and care for patients with this disease. Our patients also have access to innovative therapies through our clinical trials.

Overview
About 4,570 new cases of CML will be diagnosed in the US this year. The median age at diagnosis is 53, and the disease is slightly more common in men than women. Researchers have noticed an increasing proportion of younger people with CML in recent years.
Symptoms
In the first stages of CML, many patients do not have any symptoms of disease and remain symptom-free for several years. Frequently, the disease is discovered through routine blood tests or during a regular checkup.
Risk Factors
Risk factors for developing CML are poorly understood. Exposure to radiation and some chemicals are known risk factors. Most people with CML have no known risk factors at all.
Diagnosis
Physicians perform an array of tests to diagnose CML. The three main tests doctors use include blood tests, bone marrow aspirates/biopsies, and testing for the Philadelphia chromosome.
Classification
CML develops when genetic material is exchanged between two of the 46 chromosomes that are in human cells, typically chromosomes 9 and 22, although in a small percentage of patients additional chromosomes are involved as well.
Treatment
Physicians recommend a course of treatment for each CML patient that takes a number of factors into consideration: the stage of the disease; whether the patient has been treated already, with what, and how successfully; the number of blasts in the bone marrow; the results of cytogenetic testing; and the patient's overall health and other medical problems.
Follow-Up Care
Patients with CML will be monitored throughout the course of their disease to make sure that their treatment continues to be effective and to watch for side effects of treatment.

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