Question
The first-line drug therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia is
The correct answer is
Imatinib
First-Line Therapy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
The standard first-line drug therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is Imatinib. It is a targeted therapy known as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).
Rationale for Imatinib
- Mechanism: Imatinib specifically inhibits the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, the abnormal protein driving CML proliferation.
- Efficacy: It has shown high rates of cytogenetic and molecular response, significantly improving patient outcomes compared to older treatments.
- Standard of Care: Imatinib is widely recognized and recommended as the initial treatment choice for patients diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) CML in the chronic phase.
Other Options
- Hydroxycarbamide: Can be used for cytoreduction but is not a targeted therapy and less effective long-term for CML.
- Alpha interferon: An older immunotherapy; largely replaced by TKIs due to lower efficacy and poorer tolerability.
- Busulphan: A chemotherapy alkylating agent, historically used but generally reserved for specific situations or later lines of therapy due to toxicity and lack of specificity compared to TKIs.
Therefore, Imatinib is the correct first-line therapy.
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Important Questions from Leukemia
- The Rai staging system and Binet staging system are the two widely used staging systems used for staging which of the following hematological malignancies?
- The BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein exhibits constitutive activity of which one of the following enzymes?
- Imatinib, Dasatinib, Nilotinib and Ponatinib are examples of which class of drugs?
- Which one of the following is a clonal haematopoietic stem cell disorder in which phenotypically normal red blood cells, granulocytes and platelets accumulate in the absence of a recognizable physiological stimulus?
- Which one of the following combinations of drugs can be used for treatment of relapsed myeloma ?
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