CML
Chronic myelogenous leukemia: Chronic leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in the blood forming cells of the bone marrow and then can spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver,spleen,skin and brain. Myelogenous leukemia involves the bone marrow cells called granulocytes, or monocytes. Granulocytes are a group of white blood cells whose main function are to destroy bacteria and germs that cause infection. Monocytes also protect the body against bacteria. When monocytes enter the tissue they become macrophages which produce antibodies that recognize and help fight off germs. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) accounts for 15% - 20% of cases of adult leukemia, with an incidence  of 1 to 1.5 cases per 100,000 population CML invarably terminates in a lethal acute  leukemia.
Treatments
Some of the treatments include: PEG Interferon, homoherringtonine, decitabine, BCR-ABL kinase inhibitors, chemotheraphy and bone marrow transplant. These treatments, excluding bone marrow transplant, however are not a cure. Some have unpleasent side affects and not all treatments will work for all CML patients. Treatment options have become more complex in recent years, with allogenic bone marrow transplant still the only curative option. Improvments in treatment-related toxicity now make tranplatation of older patients feasible. However, due to age or lack of a suitable donor, allogenic transplant is not possible for the vast majority of CML patients. Interferon-Alpha is shown to prolong life in CML patients, as compared to hydroxyurea, the former  top treatment. New treatments based on the caustive molecular abnormality of CML are showing great promise .Treatment options continues to expand, but unfortunately, donor availability and patient age limit the feasibilty of transplant to approximately  35% of CML patients. The appeal of transplant is also limited due to the risk of early death associated with the procedure, which increses with the patients age and degree of donor mismatch. Although there are many treatments available transplant is the only curative option.
How you can help.
The best help you can give is to pray.
You can become a bone marrow donor.
You can send words of encouragement to:
zhyle@aol.com
Snail mail to:
Christian Jones
c/o John McGuire
6170 Antelope Valley St.
Gillette, WY 82718
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