Current Research

Research for CML is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this current time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.

Sometimes, CML becomes resistant to imatinib when there is the development of new mutations in the BCR-ABL fusion gene, which prevents the binding of imatinib to the enzyme. Some experimental approaches to increase the effectiveness of this treatment are listed below:

• Using higher doses of imatinib as initial treatment
  
  
• Combining imatinib with other drugs, including low-dose cytarabine (Cytosar-U) or other BCR-ABL inhibitors
  
  
• Testing new drugs that have been made to specifically inhibit new mutations in the BCR-ABL fusion gene
  
  
• Creating vaccines against BCR-ABL
  
  
• Developing newer methods of stem cell transplantation aimed at decreasing the side effects from the transplantation
  
  
• Evaluating dasatinib and nilotinib as the initial treatment for CML
  
  
• Evaluating other new tyrosine kinase inhibitors for CML that does not respond to imatinib

Most cancer centers are actively involved in clinical trials aimed at increasing the rate of cure from CML. The National Cancer Institute’s Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program sponsors many of these studies. Please talk with your doctor about these ongoing clinical trials.