Treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia in the accelerated phase

The goal of treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the accelerated phase is to return it to the chronic phase. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan. During treatment they will check your blood and bone marrow to see how well CML is responding. Based on the results of these tests they may change your treatment.

The following are treatment options for CML in the accelerated phase.

Targeted therapy uses drugs to target specific molecules (such as proteins) on cancer cells or inside them to stop the growth and spread of cancer.

The targeted therapy drugs used to treat CML are called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).

The TKI given will depend on if CML is newly diagnosed in the accelerated phase or if it has progressed from the chronic phase while you were taking TKIs.

Imatinib (Gleevec) may be continued at a higher dose if you were taking it in the chronic phase. It may also be given if CML doesn't respond to treatment with other TKIs.

Dasatinib (Sprycel), nilotinib (Tasigna) or bosutinib (Bosulif) is given if CML is diagnosed in the accelerated phase or if it has progressed from the chronic phase while you were taking imatinib.

Ponatinib (Iclusig) is given if there are other gene mutations in addition to the BCR-ABL gene, such as the T315I gene mutation.

Find out more about targeted therapy for CML.

A stem cell transplant replaces stem cells. The type of transplant that may be offered for CML in the accelerated phase is called an allogeneic stem cell transplant. It uses stem cells from a donor.

You may be offered a stem cell transplant if treatment with TKIs moves the disease from the accelerated phase back to the chronic phase, or treatment improves blood counts. This is because there is a better chance that the transplant will be successful.

Find out more about a stem cell transplant for CML.

Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with CML in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.