He postponed a Bone Marrow Transplant in 1999 in favor of an experimental treatment, now commonly known as Gleevec (Imatinib).
This sharply contrasts with the outcome for CML, for which the prognosis was dramatically improved by the development of imatinib as a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL protein and in particular for CML.
Hypericum extract, by inducing both the CYP3A4 and the P-glycoprotein (P-gp), can reduce the plasma concentrations of different antineoplastic agents such as imatinib, irinotecan and docetaxel, thus reducing the clinical efficacy of these drugs.
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib (marketed as Gleevec) have been developed to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), in which the BCR-ABL fusion gene (the product of a reciprocal translocation between chromosome 9 and chromosome 22) is present in >95% of cases and produces hyperactivated abl-driven protein signaling.