Can grapefruit juice decrease the cost of imatinib for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia?

Posted by rob on February 5, 2011 under Uncategorized | Comments are off for this article

Imatinib, a selective inhibitor of Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase, has dramatically changed the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The estimated 6-year overall survival is 95% when only CML-related deaths were considered . However, imatinib is a very expensive agent (standard daily dose (400mg) costs 12,512 yen=140 US$ in Japan). Therefore, in developing countries, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is still performed as a first-line treatment for CML, since many patients are unable to afford the continuing treatment with imatinib. (Source: Leukemia Research)
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