Approximately 5,980 new cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) were diagnosed in the United States in 2014. The average age at diagnosis is 65, and the disease is slightly more common in men than women. In recent years, an increasing proportion of younger people have been diagnosed with CML, but the reason for this is not currently understood.

CML develops when genetic material is exchanged between chromosomes 9 and 22 to generate what is called the Philadelphia chromosome. Doctors perform a variety of tests to diagnose this disease.

The standard treatment for patients with CML includes a choice between several targeted therapies that are very effective in the vast majority of cases. Patients with disease that relapses or is unresponsive to one of these therapies may receive another targeted therapy or other treatments.

Learn more about treatment for CML.