Myeloid leukemia: are we getting better?

The study by Callera et al., published in this issue of the Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia (RBHH), 1 reveals evidence of a continuous decrease in the mortality rate in adult patients with myeloid leukemias from 1994 to 2011 in southeast Brazil.Undoubtedly, this decline is related to the better understanding and treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and promyelocytic leukemia (APL, M3).[2][3][4] The words myeloid retirar a palavra and leukemia refer to a very wide range of disorders with varying severity and manifestations.We address here CML, AML and APL mainly to better understand the advances in each of them.I believe that there is really a trend in Brazil to follow developed countries which have reported significant changes in prognosis.Unfortunately, we still experience many difficulties, but we have had progress as well: first, tyrosine kinase is widely distributed to patients with CML in Brazil; second, the health authorities have just opened a public consultation about AML treatment, including cytogenetics and the recommendation for the use of molecular tests in the treatment protocol; and third, the results of treatments of LPA show substantial improvement.3 Evolution in the treatment of leukemia has greatly improved the chances of cure and disease control.More than 7500 people develop leukemia in the country today and 9000