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Sprycel: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects

What is Sprycel?

Sprycel is a brand name for a prescription drug. According to the Food and Drug Administration, Sprycel is an effective medication for treating different types of leukemia in kids and adults. Leukemia is a cancerous disease that occurs when tumors grow in the bone marrow or bone. It mostly affects the tissues inside bones that are responsible for synthesizing blood cells.

How is Sprycel used for adults?

Adults with the following issues may be advised to take Sprycel:

  • Acute lymphoblastic leukemia that’s Ph+ and is unresponsive to treatment. The first site of affection for Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the blood cells of the bone marrow called lymphoid blood cells. Before taking Sprycel for this condition, you must have already tried other drugs that weren’t effective or you experienced certain side effects.
  • A new diagnosis of severe myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase. The chronic phase is known as Philadelphia chromosome-positive. In most cases, the first site of affection for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is the blood cells of the bone marrow called myeloid blood cells. Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) is a clinical term used to describe the gene mutation (a strange and permanent change to a gene) responsible for the increase in the development of leukemia. Doctors prescribe Sprycel to treat Ph+ CML that’s in the chronic phase. The chronic phase is the first phase; a phase where the level of cancerous cells in the bone marrow or blood is low.
  • Ph+ CML in any stage that is unresponsive to normal treatment methods. Doctors prescribe Sprycel to adults who are in the chronic (first), accelerated (second), or blast (terminal or most advanced) phase. Used to treat Ph+ CML that’s in the chronic, accelerated (second), or blast (most advanced) phase. Before a doctor prescribes the medication for these phases, the adult must have already taken other drugs, such as imatinib (Gleevec), but it wasn’t effective or they experienced certain side effects. This is what “unresponsive” means.