25 Years of TKIs in CML: A Revolution and a Responsibility
Twenty-five years ago, the arrival of imatinib changed the course of a disease and the lives of countless people diagnosed with it. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), once defined by uncertainty and limited time, became a condition many could live with, plan around, and, in some cases, even move beyond.
But breakthroughs do not reach patients on their own.
For many around the world, the promise of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) arrived slowly, shaped by barriers that had nothing to do with biology, where they lived, what they could afford, and whether systems existed to support them. The story of CML is not only one of scientific triumph, but of the long, determined effort to turn discovery into real-world impact.
This Cancerworld special issue, developed in collaboration with The Max Foundation, brings together voices from across the global CML community—clinicians, researchers, patients, and advocates, who have lived this transformation in very different ways.
Their stories speak not just of survival, but of time regained: time to raise children, build careers, and imagine a future that once seemed out of reach. They also remind us that access has been as transformative as science itself. Because the TKI revolution did not unfold evenly, its true impact has depended on the partnerships and persistence required to reach those beyond the margins. Over the past two decades, The Max Foundation has been part of that journey, helping extend the reach of life-saving treatment to patients across the world.
A quarter century on, CML is more than a success story. It is a reminder of what medicine can achieve, and of the responsibility to ensure that such progress is shared by all.
Read the full special issue here.
