Early Warning Signs of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)

The early diagnosis of CML increases the effectiveness of Tasigna chemotherapy treatments

Wednesday, December 5, 2018 - Tasigna anti-cancer chemotherapy drug is recommended for patients that have not achieved a sufficient response to Gleevec or other less-toxic cancer drugs. Doctors are urged to give Tasigna a try in patients that are not suffering from other pre-existing conditions such as heart disease or other blood abnormalities. Tasigna has proven highly effective in getting patients to cancer remission when they have all but given up on other chemotherapy drugs. Some Tasigna patients have such a positive response that to Tasigna that the drug may be discontinued after a period of treatment. Tasigna is prescribed for those suffering from Philadelphia positive chronic myeloid leukemia, a rare and often fatal blood cancer.

Chronic myeloid leukemia, CML is a condition when the body's bone marrow produces too many and ineffective white blood cells. CML occurs in the myeloid cells and produces abnormal cells. CML cells divide and multiply uncontrollably and spillover from the bone marrow into the blood. Once in the bloodstream, CML can rapidly spin out of control and affect other vital organs in the body making the disease difficult to treat. CML occurs in both adults and children.

Leukemia starts in the bone marrow preventing cells from maturing normally. Abnormal cells rapidly multiply and overtake the normal blood cells. Unlike other cancers that begin in a particular organ, leukemia starts in the bone marrow, spills out into the bloodstream and is rapidly carried to other organs in the body. Leukemia in the chronic stage prevents normal white blood cells from fighting infection. While most cancers are avoidable by avoiding certain risks or with lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking or avoiding eating meat, there is no known way to prevent CML. The most effective way to treat CML is early detection which entails knowing the early warning signs. Tasigna complications such as atherosclerosis or peripheral arterial disease may be entitled to compensation through filing Tasigna lawsuits against Novartis.

Cancer.org lists the most common early warning signs for CML as including "weakness, fatigue, night sweats, weight loss, fever, bone pain (caused by leukemia cells spreading from the marrow cavity to the surface of the bone or into the joint), an enlarged spleen (felt as a mass under the left side of the ribcage), bloated belly, loss of appetite, and full body pain. These warning signs occur because leukemia cells replace the bone marrow's normal blood-making cells. As a result, people with CML don't make enough red blood cells, properly functioning white blood cells, and platelets."

In spite of the effectiveness of Tasigna in fighting CML, the drug carries severe, life-threatening side effects itself. "Tasigna can cause a possible life-threatening heart problem called QTc prolongation. QTc prolongation causes an irregular heartbeat, which may lead to sudden death." Doctors prescribing Tasigna need to perform a heart test called an electrocardiogram (ECG) on potential Tasigna patients in order to check for heart rhythm abnormalities and to establish a baseline for future ECGs that are to be performed every seven days after starting Tasigna. Tasigna has also been linked with sudden death and amputations from patients developing atherosclerosis, a rapid thickening, and narrowing of the blood's arterial pathways.

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