Radioimmunotherapy Treatment For Aggressive Lymphoma
A Phase II study conducted by several researchers, including Chicago Blood Cancer Foundation Medical Advisory Council Members Stephanie A. Gregory, MD and Parmeswaran Venugopal, MD show favorable results for patients with Large Diffuse B Cell Lymphoma. Zevalin RIT was given as consolidation following dose-dense CHOP R (every 14 days) as first line therapy for DLBCL. RIT converted partial responses to complete responses and, after 31/2 years, 17 out of 20 still are in remission. Over 3/4 of the patients enrolled had advanced disease and some were elderly. http://ash.confex.com/ash/2010/webprogram/Paper27049.html
CML Update – Taking A Vacation From Gleevec
In a new study published online Oct. 19 in The Lancet Oncology, reported that a small group of people with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who stopped taking Gleevec (imatinib) have remained cancer-free two years later. Gleevec is a highly targeted member of a class of drugs called protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitors. It was first approved in 2001 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use by CML patients against CML. The drug works by thwarting the activity of an aberrant protein that helps drive the disease. Gleevec has proven to be a revolutionary advance against CML, a cancer of the white blood cells that previously had a very poor prognosis. According to the researchers, studies suggest that the drug now offers CML patients an 89 percent five year surviving five years and an 85 percent surviving eight years. Greevec therapy can cost about $4,500 per month and can have side-effects such as lower leg and eye swelling, muscle cramps, muscle pain, diarrhea, rashes, nausea and vomiting. This study shows that some patients remained cancer free two years after they ceased using Gleevec. Equally important, those patients that relapsed responded again to the drug after being reintroduced to the therapy. http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=644666&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=November+2010+LeukemiaLinks&utm_content=ssmslaw@aol.com
Gleevec was the result of groundbreaking research conducted right here in Chicago by Dr. Janet Rowley and her colleagues at University of Chicago. If you are interested in learning more about the importance of research and the development of this therapy, listen to or watch our interview with Dr. Le Beau, Professor and Director of The Cancer Research Center at University of Chicago.
In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rituxan (rituximab) to treat certain patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a slowly progressing blood and bone marrow cancer. The FDA approved the use of Rituxn for patients with CLL who are beginning chemotherapy for the first time and for those who have not responded to other cancer drugs for CLL. Rituxan is administered with two other chemotherapy drugs, fludarabine and cyclophosphamide. Rituxan is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the surface of cancer cells, making it easier for the patient?s immune system to attack the cancer cell. In one study of 817 patients who had not received any prior chemotherapy, progression-free survival was eight months longer for those receiving Rituxan plus chemotherapy than for those who received chemotherapy alone. In another study of 522 patients whose cancer had progressed following other chemotherapy drugs, progression-free survival was five months longer for those who received Rituxan plus chemotherapy. Rituxan carries a warning, among other things, for infusion reactions, which can occur during infusion or within 24 hours afterwards. Reportedly 59 percent of patients treated with Rituxan for CLL experienced an infusion reaction that resembled an allergic reaction (such as hives,low blood pressure, chills, fever, and nausea). A decrease in infection-fighting, normal white blood cells was also commonly observed in patients enrolled in the Rituxan clinical trials.
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The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2006, Featuring Colorectal Cancer Trends and Impact of Interventions (Risk Factors, Screening, and Treatment) to Reduce Future Rates, authored by researchers from the American Cancer Society (ACS), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) was released in December. Although this information has been out for about three months, it is worth highlighting to people impacted by blood cancer. According to the report, the cancer death rate for men and women combined fell 1.6% per year during 2001-2006, in keeping with the steady downward trend that started in the 1990s, with men seeing slightly larger declines in cancer death rates than women. New diagnoses for all types of cancer combined also decreased about 1% per year on average from 1999 to 2006. Once again, the decline was steeper among men compared to women, dropping 1.3% per year from 2000 through 2006 in men compared to 0.5% per year from 1998 through 2006 in women. Although rates of the most common cancer types in men (prostate, colorectal, and lung) are falling, incidence rates are up for others, including leukemia, myeloma, kidney, liver, and melanoma, and esophageal cancers. Among women, rates for two of the most common cancers, breast and colorectal, have declined somewhat. Other cancers also on the rise among women include non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, lung, thyroid, pancreatic, bladder, kidney cancer, and melanoma.
The January 19 NCI bulletin was dominated by news regarding blood cancer. The bulletin reported on matters of interest regarding myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Multiple Myeloma: NCI reports that initial results from a phase III trial testing lenalidomide (Revlimid) as a component of multiple myeloma treatment indicate as much as a 58 percent reduction in the risk of disease progression for patients who used the drug, according to a news release issued by NCI. The trial was stopped early because the independent data and safety monitoring committee overseeing the trial found that the study demonstrated a longer time before the cancer progressed following autologous blood stem cell transplantation for those patients receiving the study drug than those receiving a placebo.
Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma: A genetic study of lymphoma tumors has revealed the importance of a signaling pathway long suspected of playing a role in certain forms of the disease. DNA mutations were found in two components of the B-cell receptor signaling pathway in a subset of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL). In additional experiments, the researchers showed that drugs could kill these lymphoma cells by blocking signals from this pathway. Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: In an early phase clinical trial testing a therapeutic vaccine in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who were taking the drug imatinib (Gleevec), no cancer cells could be detected in 7 out of 19 participants for a median period of 22 months. The trial results were published in the January 1 Clinical Cancer Research.
For more information visit, http://www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/011210/page3#c
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