The drug Imatinib (Glivec) was developed in Switzerland and the United States in the 1990s. A new type of molecular inhibitor, Imatinib turns off the enzyme that causes cells to become cancerous and to multiply. This targeted drug has revolutionised the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia, and has prompted the development of a series of new drugs that work along similar lines for other malignant diseases. The team at Hammersmith Hospital was involved in the pre-clinical development of Imatinib and in 1999, the hospital was amongst the first centres in Europe to offer it to patients. The Hammersmith is now testing the benefits of two new molecular inhibitors, and also running trials on ground-breaking treatments for myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Alongside the introduction and classification of new drugs, researchers are studying new approaches to immunotherapy. This involves boosting the patient’s own immune system to control, and eventually destroy, residual leukaemia.