By The Survivors Club Staff
November 10, 2009

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the Survivors Club.  In an interview this week, the former UCLA and Lakers star revealed that he has a rare form of leukemia called Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a disease of the blood and bone marrow that produces cancerous blood cells.

The cancer was diagnosed in December, the 62-year-old Hall of Famer said, and can be controlled with daily medicine, consulting a cancer specialist every other month and getting regular blood tests.

Acknowledging he was frightened at first, Jabbar said he expects to lead a healthy life.

Last year, the American Cancer Society estimated there were around 4,830 new cases of CML and about 450 deaths from the disease. CML affects mostly adults and is rarely seen in children. The average age of people with CML is around 67 years and an average person's lifetime risk of getting CML is less than 1 in 500, according to the ACS.

Because of dramatic improvements in treatment over the past several years, most people with CML are now living at least 5 years after their cancer is found. The drugs used to treat CML today are still fairly new, and the average survival of people now being treated for CML is not known.

"The word 'leukemia' is a very frightening word," Jabbar told the Los Angeles Times.  "In many instances, it's a killer and it's something that you have to deal with in a very serious and determined way if you're going to beat it."

Experts say that 85 percent of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia can lead "high quality" lives with very few side effects.  While medication does not cure the disease, it can be controlled.

"I responded well to the treatment," Jabbar said.  "I just want that to continue to keep happening."

Abdul-Jabbar wasn't feeling particularly ill last year, he told the Times, and was having frequent hot flashes and was sweating constantly. He said his doctor told him to get some blood tests.

"By having the hot flashes, I knew something was up. But I didn't think that it was going to be something as serious as leukemia," Abdul-Jabbar said.

"If it wasn't for my health-consciousness, I would have just passed on the effects [of the leukemia symptoms] as something I could ignore," Abdul-Jabbar said. "But I felt it didn't make sense to ignore it."

His family has a history of cancer, Abdul-Jabbar said. A grandfather and an uncle died of colon cancer. "So I have the gene for that," he said. "Cancer is a scary thing and you have to deal with it seriously."

"The fact that you can manage the disease means that you can live your life," Abdul-Jabbar said. "The fact that you have to go and get your blood analyzed and consult with your doctor might be a minor inconvenience, or you have to take your medication every day. But if you do these things, you can lead a normal live."

For more information about surviving leukemia, please visit the Survivors Club Leukemia Support Center.