Dr. Brian Druker on Gleevec, Precision Oncology, and the Future of Cancer Research

Dr. Brian Druker helped change the course of modern oncology through his central role in the development of imatinib (Gleevec), a therapy that transformed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and helped establish the modern era of precision oncology.In this episode of Precision Signals, Dr. Sean Khozin speaks with Dr. Brian Druker about the scientific, clinical, and human story behind Gleevec, from the early search for a drug that could inhibit the abnormal signal driving CML, to skepticism around targeted therapy, to the first clinical trials and the broader impact on cancer medicine.The conversation also explores Dr. Druker’s path into oncology, the development of targeted therapies beyond CML, the limits of molecularly targeted drugs, the arrival of immunotherapy, the challenge of persistent leukemia cells, current work in AML, and how AI may help generate hypotheses while still requiring rigorous biological validation.This is a conversation about scientific persistence, translational medicine, precision oncology, and what meaningful progress in cancer research really requires.