What is CML?
Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a hematologic
disorder caused by an acquired abnormality in the DNA of the stem cells in the bone
marrow. This results in a gene that produces an abnormal protein. This abnormal
protein, called tyrosine kinase, disrupts the bone marrow’s normally well-controlled
production of white blood cells, which leads to a massive increase in their numbers
in the blood. The disease tends to occur in middle-aged people but may occur in
children. Worldwide, CML occurs in one to two per 100,000 people per year and is
responsible for 15 to 20 percent of all adult cases of leukaemia.