Will taking imatinib cure it completely?

Imatinib (Imatinib) is a targeted therapy drug. For some leukemias and tumor diseases, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), etc., it can very effectively control the progression of the disease and even enable some patients to enter a deep molecular response. However, imatinib is generally not considered a curative treatment. Curative treatment means complete elimination of the disease so that it does not recur or progress. Although imatinib can control the disease and lead to long-term survival, it does not always completely cure the disease. The disease may reappear in some patients once treatment with imatinib is discontinued. Therefore, imatinib usually requires long-term, possibly lifelong use to maintain disease control. For some patients, the profound molecular response may reach very low levels, enabling them to consider discontinuing the drug, but discontinuation decisions often require physician guidance and require close monitoring.