A history of the chronic leukemias

Abstract

Whilst chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) may be grouped together for some purposes, they differ in many ways. CML is a disease with well-defined progressive stages (chronic phase, acceleration, transformation, blast crisis) accruing in middle life; CLL is a relatively indolent disease involving mainly the elderly. Whereas CML has well-characterized molecular features, which can reasonably be assumed to be related to its pathogenesis, the cause of CLL is less well characterized. The observations which have led to our current state of knowledge and ability to treat patients are the subject of this chapter. Reviews of the history of CML have also been provided by Piller in 1997 [1] and Geary in 2000 [2].