Chronic Glivec (Imatinib Mesilate)

Imatinib is a drug used to treat certain types of cancer. It is currently marketed by Novartis as Gleevec or Glivec as its mesylate salt, imatinib mesilate (INN).  It is used in treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and a number of other cancers. It is the first member of a new class of agents that act by inhibiting particular tyrosine kinase enzymes, instead of non-specifically inhibiting rapidly dividing cells. Imatinib was identified in the late 1990s by a team of Novartis chemists. Dr. Brian J. Druker of Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) led many of the key clinical trials confirming the efficacy of imatinib in CML. Gleevec received FDA approval in May 2001. On the same month it made the cover of TIME magazine as the "magic bullet" to cure cancer.

 

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Leukemia is a general term for cancer of the blood (white blood cells). Blood is made in the bone marrow, a spongy material inside the bones.  

Blood is made up of:

 Red blood cell which containhaemoglobin to carry oxygen around the body

 

 White blood cells which fight infections

 

 Platelets which help to prevent and stop bleeding  

 

The bone marrow produces two main types of white blood cells: neutrophils and lymphocytes, which work together to fight infections.  

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a cancer of the neutrophils. Production of white blood cells normally takes place in an orderly and controlled manner, but in leukemia, the process gets out of control, resulting in too manywhite cells. Over a period of time, the bone marrow progressively becomes replaced by the ‘bad cells’ at the expense of the normal white cells, red cells and platelets. The disease usually progresses very slowly, hence the term “chronic’.  

Chronic myeloid leukemia can occur at any age, but it more commonly affects middle-aged and older people.  

There are three other types of leukemia: chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).