Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is associated with high healthcare resource use and treatment costs. In addition to drug acquisition costs and the relatively high hospitalisation rates for patients with CML compared with the general population, the need for administration of chemotherapy in a clinical setting contributes to the high price of treating CML. Thus, the use of an oral therapy suited to self-administration at home, such as imatinib mesylate ['Gleevec', STI571], is expected to reduce the cost of treating CML, compared with standard chemotherapy. This hypothesis was supported by two studies presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology [Philadelphia, US; December 2002]. An analysis of data from the IRIS*study showed that first-line treatment with imatinib was not only more effective, but also reduced inpatient and outpatient costs, compared with interferon (IFN)-α/cytarabine, thus offsetting its higher acquisition cost. A second study showed that imatinib was more cost effective than IFN-α/cytarabine in patients with chronic phase CML. The high cost of treating CML in elderly patients was confirmed by an analysis of US Medicare and outcomes data presented at the meeting. This study also suggested that elderly patients with CML were generally undertreated, with healthcare providers apparently reluctant to use chemotherapy in this population.