Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia as a Paradigm of Rational Drug Development
Speaker
Professor Peter Curtin
Coordinator
Hiromi Imai Dellario
Chronic myeloid leukemia is a type of blood cancer that occurs more often among older adults. It was one of the first cancers associated with a recurrent chromosomal abnormality, the Philadelphia chromosome. This abnormality truncates the ABL gene that regulates growth, abolishing its normal regulation and leading to the uncontrolled growth of white blood cells characteristic of the disease. Molecular studies focused on the ABL gene resulted in the development of a series of highly effective medications which were some of the first molecularly targeted medications to treat cancer.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Peter Curtin is a professor in the leukemia division and Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope. He previously served as the clinical director of the Bone & Bone Marrow Transplant Program at UC San Diego. He developed a clinical research effort focused on myelodysplastic syndrome, acute and chronic leukemias. He got his MD from SUNY Upstate Medical College.
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