chronic myeloid leukemia
Meaning of chronic myeloid leukemia: This slow-progressing blood cancer results from an acquired genetic change that causes the bone marrow to overproduce white blood cells.
Definition of chronic myeloid leukemia
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a slowly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow in which the marrow produces too many granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, rather than the lymphocytes affected in some other leukemias. Symptoms often develop gradually and can include fatigue, unintended weight loss, and a feeling of fullness related to an enlarged spleen.
The disease is caused by an acquired genetic change within blood-forming cells, in which pieces of two chromosomes swap places to form an abnormal fusion gene. This rearrangement, often referred to as the Philadelphia chromosome, drives the uncontrolled production of white blood cells that characterizes the disease and is used both to confirm the diagnosis and to guide treatment selection.
Also called chronic granulocytic leukemia or chronic myelogenous leukemia, the condition is commonly abbreviated CML and is distinguished from acute leukemias by its typically slower course.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Genetic testing confirmed the fusion gene associated with chronic myeloid leukemia, supporting the diagnosis suggested by the blood counts.
Good to know
Chronic myeloid leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, and CML all name the same disease, distinguished from chronic lymphocytic leukemia by the type of blood cell involved and by the underlying genetic change driving it.
Word origin
Where “chronic myeloid leukemia” comes from
Formed from Greek chronos, meaning time, describing the disease's typically slow course, combined with myeloid, from Greek myelos, marrow, and leukemia, from Greek leukos, white, and haima, blood.