A 70-year-old woman has received a diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) after a clinical investigation sparked by the presence of leukocytosis in her routine blood work. What clinical course should her care provider tell her to expect?
A) "You can expect your blood results, fatigue, and susceptibility to infection to gradually worsen over a few years."
B) "You could remain the chronic stage of CML for several years before it accelerates and culminates in a crisis."
C) "It's likely that this will give you chronic fatigue and malaise for the rest of your life, but that will probably be the extent of your symptoms."
D) "Unfortunately, your leukemia will likely enter a crisis mode within a few weeks if we don't treat it immediately."

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The clinical course of CML is commonly divided into three phases: (1) a chronic phase of variable length, (2) a short accelerated phase, and (3) a terminal blast crisis phase.
Persons in the early chronic phase of CML generally are asymptomatic, but without effective treatment, most will enter the accelerated phase within 4 years.

A 70-Year-Old Woman Has Received a Diagnosis of Chronic Myelogenous