A short review about chronic myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) develops as a result of a clonal process in a pluripotent stem cell. Anemia, granulocytosis, basophilia, thrombocytosis and splenomegaly are some of the symptoms of the condition. According to clinical findings, the illness progresses through three stages, each of which is identified by a rise in number of the blast cells in peripheral blood or bone marrow: chronic (10%), accelerated (10-19%) and acute leukemia-like blast crisis (20%).  Most CML cases could be preliminary diagnosed by the presence of splenomegaly in addition to mutation in the BCR-ABL gene as well as complete blood count (CBC) test. Moreover, a bone marrow biopsy can provide a major confirmation of the disease process and staging. Definitive diagnosis of the disease can be either achieved through fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or polymerase chain reaction PCR technique.