According to researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, congestive heart failure rarely occurs among leukemia patients who take Gleevec (imatinib).

The study was led by Dr. Jorge Cortes who said that there is no need for routine cardio-specific monitoring of all patients taking imatinib, although those with cardiac history should be close monitored. In a separate paper lasat year, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported that imatinib may be cardio-toxic in humans.

Imatinib targets two members of the tyrosine kinase class of enzymes and a hybrid tyrosine kinase known to cause chronic myologenous leukemia (CML) and Ph-postive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Before imatinib, only about half of CML patients survived five years. Now the five year survival rate is 95 percent.

In an act of civil disobedience, Jayne Sullivan is staging a one-woman protest at the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay, Wales, until her government agrees to end the postcard lottery of medical care for women diagnosed with breast cancer. Currently, her government has refused to grant women with early-stage breast cancer access to the drug Herceptin. Herceptin, once only prescribed for women diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, is now recommended in most countries for women with early-stage breast cancer. In some parts of Wales, health providers have been prescribing Herceptin to women with early-stage breast cancer, even though it is not officially a permitted protocol in Wales. Herceptin is not without its critics, as the drug may cause serious heart problems and heart failure in some women. Sullivan sits alone in the foyer, determined not to leave, determined to be heard, determined to affect a positive change in the present policy of health care and drug administration for all women of Wales. Sullivan was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago.