Michael Deininger, MD, PhD

In this interview we discuss the latest chronic myeloid leukemia treatment and research with Dr. Michael Deininger, chief of the division of hematology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Not so long ago, therapeutic decisionsin chronic myeloid leukemia(CML) were ratherstraightforward: Allogeneic bonemarrow transplantation was performedin all patients with a donorwho were deemed fit enough for theprocedure, interferon-alfa was administeredto all others able to tolerate it,and the remainder received hydroxyurea.The advent of imatinibmesylate (Gleevec) and, to a lesserdegree, the development of reducedintensityconditioning regimens, haveradically changed the approach totreating CML and have considerablyincreased the complexity of treatmentdecisions.