Leukemia Fighter: Drug could combat resistant cases
By Nathan Seppa
The drug imatinib, also called Gleevec, is the kind of success story most scientists only dream of. Since its FDA approval in 2001, imatinib has rescued thousands of patients from chronic myeloid leukemia, a lethal blood cancer with limited treatment options short of a bone marrow transplant.
However, some patients taking imatinib have relapsed as their leukemia has become resistant to the drug’s effects. In the July 16 Science, researchers report that a new drug aimed specifically at imatinib-resistant leukemia stops the cancer in mice.