Treatment options for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have changed dramatically during the last decades. Interferon-alpha treatment and stem cell transplantation (SCT) clearly improved survival over conventional chemotherapy and offered the possibility of complete and durable responses. With the advent of the small molecule inhibitor imatinib mesylate (Glivec((R)), Gleevectrade mark) targeting t...

The rapid development of high throughput biotechnologies has led to an onslaught of data describing genetic perturbations and changes in mRNA and protein levels in the cell. Because each assay provides a one-dimensional snapshot of active signaling pathways, it has become desirable to perform multiple assays (e.g. mRNA expression and phospho-proteomics) to measure a single condition. However, a...

Imatinib was the first targeted therapy approved for the treatment of cancer. With its approval, it was immediately clear to Novartis that this breakthrough therapy would require an innovative approach to worldwide access, with special consideration of low- and middle-income countries. Lack of government reimbursement, universal health care, or health insurance coverage, few trained specialty p...

ENESTnd (Evaluating Nilotinib Efficacy and Safety in Clinical Trials in Newly Diagnosed Patients) is a global, multicenter, randomized phase 3 study. Conducted at 217 centers in 35 countries, this study is comparing nilotinib (Tasigna, Novartis) with imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis) in patients with newly diagnosed CML–CP. At 24 months, among patients receiving nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (n = 282...

In the mid-1990s, the miracle drug Gleevec revolutionized cancer treatment, offering terminally ill patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) a new lease on life. Until then, the only weapons in the medical arsenal against cancer were the blunt and brutal triad of surgery, radiation, and conventional chemotherapy. Gleevec, which ushered in the era of molecularly targeted medicine, proved to ...