Chronic myeloid leukemia

For a lay person:

Chronic myeloid leukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow, in which too many white blood cells are made. It mostly affects adults and often develops slowly, sometimes found on a routine blood test. It can cause tiredness, weight loss and an enlarged spleen.

For a trained medical person:

A myeloproliferative neoplasm driven by the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene from the Philadelphia chromosome t(9;22), with chronic, accelerated and blast phases. Diagnosis rests on full blood count and film, bone marrow examination, and cytogenetic or PCR detection of BCR-ABL1. First-line treatment is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with regular molecular monitoring; transplantation is reserved for resistant or advanced disease.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis; Zheng Qi Deficiency and Blood Stasis. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: This needs specialist haematology treatment; Chinese medicine is adjunctive at most. Seek urgent care for fever, bleeding, severe left-sided abdominal pain or sudden worsening, and tell your haematologist about any herbs, as some interact with targeted cancer drugs.