Efficacy of a Medication for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

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.