YOUR DONATIONS to TNT make a difference! Honoree Meghan Smith -- age 4-1/2 (read about her on the links page) is taking Gleevec. Dr. Brain Druker at the University of Oregon discovered this treatment with research funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Gleevec is the first successful targeted therapy for cance Gleevec is a miracle in that it targets the specific mutated chromosomes that are
indicative of CML. These chromosomes mutated and fused in the wrong
place when the cell went to divide - which happens all the time - the
problem is that these specific chromosomes don't die out as the
overwhelming majority of mutations do...instead they signal the body to
start producing white blood cells as fast as possible, and they never
shut off. They also reproduce in their new, mutated form, causing more
white blood cells to form, until, eventually, the patient's marrow is
all CML cells and his/her bloodstream is overwhelmed with white cells.

Gleevec is an alternative to interferon and bone marrow transplants, but has only been in existence for four years, and only available on the market for 18 months. It has almost no side-effects, comes in an easy to swallow gel cap, and allows patients to go on living their lives as if the CML wasn't there... for how long, no one knows yet.

It's only drawback is that it's not a cure - just a treatment. Dr. Druker is now working, with new grants from TNT donations, on additional therapies that might combine with Gleevec to completely
eradicate the CML chromosomes.