Library · Neoplasm
Chronic myeloid leukemia
Make it clearer
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a blood cancer in which granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, multiply unchecked. It is called myeloproliferative because what proliferates are cells of the myeloid line, the lineage the bone marrow produces.
Its origin is one specific genetic accident. A piece of chromosome 9 and a piece of chromosome 22 trade places, and out of that swap comes a shorter chromosome 22 known as the Philadelphia chromosome. Almost every case has it. At the junction sits a new gene, BCR::ABL1, and it is that gene that defines the disease.
That gene makes a protein, a tyrosine kinase, which under normal conditions would be a switch that turns on only when growth is needed. Two genes that should never touch end up fused, and the growth switch is stuck on: the signal to grow and not to die is given all the time.
In brief
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a BCR::ABL1-positive myeloproliferative neoplasm made up mostly of proliferating granulocytes.
The BCR-ABL1 fusion oncoprotein defines it: roughly 90% to 95% of cases carry the Philadelphia chromosome, from the t(9;22) translocation.
That oncoprotein acts as a faulty tyrosine kinase that is always switched on and activates cell growth and survival pathways.
Two genes that should never touch end up fused, and the growth switch is stuck on.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingChronic Myelogenous Leukemia, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated