Some say it is a magic bullet. Others refer to it as a miracle. Imatinib is a drug used to treat a type of blood cancer. Today, patients who take imatinib survive an average of 30 years. This means that most of them can live as long as any other person. This is amazing! In the 1980s, a cancer patient could expect to live only 3–5 years. Imagine how devastating this was for the patient and the patient’s family! But how did we develop imatinib? Why is imatinib considered a miracle drug? And why is the story behind this drug so special? To answer these questions, we have to time travel to the past. This article describes the astonishing discovery of imatinib, the magic bullet for treatment of blood cancer, the efforts of the scientists behind this discovery, and what we have learned from the development of this drug.

John Robert
Managing Editor
European Journal of Clinical Oncology
Mail ID: oncology@scholarlymed.com
WhatsApp no: + 1-504-608-2390