Efficacy of a Medication for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

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Description

This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that tested a new treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of white blood cells.

In CML, white blood cells divide uncontrollably due to an overactive mutant tyrosine kinase protein called BCR-ABL. In this study, scientists developed and tested a drug, STI571 (trade name Gleevec), that blocks the activity of BCR-ABL. The figure shows the white blood cell counts for six CML patients, each represented by a different line, who were treated with STI571 for 150 days. The dotted line represents the upper limit of a healthy white blood cell count. The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.

Student Learning Targets

Analyze and interpret data from a scientific figure.
Use patient data to evaluate the efficacy of a medical treatment.

Estimated Time

Within one 50-minute class period.

Key Terms

cancer, cell division, chromosomal translocation, Gleevec, health care, line graph, medicine, oncogene, tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)

Primary Literature

Druker, Brian J., Moshe Talpaz, Debra J. Resta, Bin Peng, Elisabeth Buchdunger, John M. Ford, Nicholas B. Lydon, et al. “Efficacy and safety of a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase in chronic myeloid leukemia.” New England Journal of Medicine 344, 14 (2001): 1031–1037. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200104053441401.