Cancercompass News: hematological cancer
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12/18/2008 Potential Breakthrough For T-Cell Lymphoma Patients With Drug That Mimics Folic Acid Preliminary results of a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial of pralatrexate (PDX), a drug that partially works by mimicking folic acid, showed a complete or partial response in 27 percent of patients with recurrent or resistant peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). PROPEL (Pralatrexate in patients with Relapsed Or refractory PEripheral T-cell Lymphoma) findings were presented by the study's principal investigator, Dr. Owen A. O'Connor of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco. The international, multicenter PROPEL trial is the largest ever conducted in patients with peripheral T... Read more at this website... 12/18/2008 Proteolix Announces Positive Data From Two Ongoing Phase 2 Clinical Trials Of Carfilzomib In Multiple Myeloma At The 50th Annual Meeting Of The American Society Of Hematology Proteolix, Inc. announced positive clinical data demonstrating that the company's lead product, carfilzomib, has single-agent activity and promotes durable responses in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Carfilzomib is the first in a new class of specific proteasome inhibitors being developed by Proteolix for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Sundar Jagannath, M.D., Chief of the Multiple Myeloma Program, Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell Transplantation at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York, and Ravi Vij, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Section of Bone Marrow Transplantation at Washington University School of Medicine, presented data from two ong... Read more at this website... 12/18/2008 Researchers Discover Why Gleevec-Type Drugs Control, But Do Not Eradicate Leukemia Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute researchers are closer to understanding why certain chronic myeloid leukemia mutations are not stopped by the revolutionary targeted cancer pill, Gleevec, or similar therapies in that drug family. The research will be presented Monday, Dec. 8, at the 50th Annual American Society of Hematology conference in San Francisco. Gleevec, also called imatinib, works by shutting down a critical protein, BCR-ABL, which causes leukemia cells to grow uncontrollably. However, Gleevec also affects other proteins, specifically the KIT protein, which exists on the surface of certain cells and binds to a substance that causes them to grow. Researchers wanted to find out if Gleevec's ability to... Read more at this website... 12/18/2008 Drug Helps Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients SAN FRANCISCO -- A French-led international study suggests acute myeloid leukemia patients treated with Vidaza (azacitidine) have significantly increased overall survival. Acute myeloid leukemia is a cancer in which abnormal cells accumulate in bone marrow and interfere with normal blood cell production. Patients with AML typically have a poor prognosis and do not respond well to conventional chemotherapy, researchers said, noting approximately 30 percent of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, formerly known as "preleukemia," will progress to AML. Dr. Pierre Fenaux of the University of Paris said the results from an international phase III trial that was the first to show an increased overall survival f... Read more at this website... 12/18/2008 Older Age Doesn't Affect Survival After Bone Marrow Transplant SAN FRANCISCO -- Age alone should not determine whether an older patient with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome receives a blood stem cell transplant from a matched donor, researchers of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research reported at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. Patients older than 65 do just as well as younger patients with transplants that are preceded by a milder chemotherapy regimen, according to an intensive analysis of every such transplant for AML or MDS conducted in North America between 1995-2005, said senior researcher Sergio Giralt, M.D., professor in The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and... Read more at this website... 12/15/2008 Mozobil Provides Enhanced Mobilization Of Stem Cells For Autologous Transplantation In Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma And Multiple Myeloma Patients CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Genzyme Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted marketing approval for Mozobil(TM) (plerixafor injection), a drug intended to be used in combination with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells to the bloodstream for collection and subsequent autologous transplantation in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma (MM). The product has also been granted orphan drug designation. "Mozobil is an important advancement in the treatment of patients with certain types of cancer who require a stem cell transplant," said John F. DiPersio, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Washington University, St. Louis. "This prod... Read more at this website... 12/15/2008 New B Cell Lymphoma Therapy Is Presented HOUSTON -- U.S. medical scientists say they've found indolent B cell lymphoma patients respond well to a new three-drug combination therapy. The researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas said the drug combo also spares patents prolonged and potentially lethal suppression of blood production in the bone marrow. The drugs -- pentostatin, cyclophosphamide and rituximab -- together provide the same remission rate as other combinations, but with minimal long-term bone marrow suppression, said Dr. Felipe Samaniego, an associate professor in M. D. Anderson's department of lymphoma and melanoma. The researchers said bone marrow suppression, or myelosuppression, leads to production of fewer... Read more at this website... 12/11/2008 The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Memgen Announce New Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Clinical Trial The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and Memgen, LLC jointly announce the beginning of a new clinical trial of ISF35, a cancer vaccine, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). LLS is collaborating on this trial in the hopes that it will speed the development and approval of a novel approach aimed at treating patients with fludarabine refractory and/or 17p deleted chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Doctors at UCSD have already begun treating the first patient with ISF35. They plan to enroll up to twelve patients. These patients will receive a vaccine expressing an immune-boosting molecule, ISF35 (Immune Stimulatory Factor 35), followed by three courses of rituximab plus the chemotherapy drugs fludarabine and cyclophosphami... Read more at this website... 12/08/2008 Geron Presents Interim Clinical Data On Its Telomerase Inhibitor Drug Trial In Patients With Multiple Myeloma MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Geron Corporation today announced the presentation of interim data at the 2008 meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA, for its ongoing clinical trial of GRN163L, a telomerase inhibitor drug, in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. This study of GRN163L as a single agent is one of six ongoing clinical trials recruiting from 18 U.S. medical centers examining the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the drug, alone or in combination, in solid tumors, chronic lymphoproliferative disease, multiple myeloma, lung and breast cancers. Phase I Study of GRN163L in Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma An interim anal... Read more at this website... 12/08/2008 New Analysis Shows That VIDAZA Prolongs Survival In Patients With Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes CROSSWICKS, N.J. -- The Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Foundation announced today that a subanalysis of the AZA-001 phase III international clinical trial shows that treatment with VIDAZA (azacitidine) can extend overall survival and reduce the risk of death in elderly higher-risk MDS patients. Dr. John F. Seymour of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in Victoria, Australia presented the analysis at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco. The results showed that 55 percent of patients in the trial had significantly higher overall survival rates at two years when treated with VIDAZA, as compared to patients treated with conventional care regimens (CCR). "Dr. Seymour's analysi... Read more at this website... 12/08/2008 Updated REVLIMID Data In Newly-Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Reports Unprecedented Three-Year Survival Rates in Phase III ECOG E4A03 Study BOUDRY, Switzerland -- Celgene International Sarl today announced more mature data from clinical studies of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) in newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma were presented at a joint symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) on Sunday, Dec. 7. The results from the ECOG E4A03 study of REVLIMID plus low-dose dexamethasone (Rd) versus REVLIMID plus a standard dose of dexamethasone (RD) in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients detailed some of the highest three-year overall survival rates ever reported in the intent to treat population. These results showed a three-year survival rate of 75 percent in the RD arm of the study and 74 percent in the Rd a... Read more at this website... 12/08/2008 ImmunoGen, Inc. Announces Favorable IMGN901 Clinical Findings Reported at ASH Annual Meeting WALTHAM, Mass. -- ImmunoGen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted anticancer therapeutics using its Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology, today announced the presentation of favorable clinical findings with the Company's IMGN901 targeted anticancer compound at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 50th Annual Meeting and Exposition being held in San Francisco, CA. "The study findings to date are highly encouraging as IMGN901, used as a single agent, demonstrated biological activity in patients whose multiple myeloma has relapsed after treatment with several well-accepted therapies," commented Asher Chanan-Khan, MD, of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. "Additionally, the compound has been very... Read more at this website... 12/05/2008 Rituxan In Combination With Chemotherapy Improves Progression-free Survival In Difficult-to-treat Form Of Blood Cancer SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec today announced that two global Phase III studies in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), CLL8 and REACH, showed Rituxan(R) (rituximab) plus chemotherapy significantly increased the time patients lived without their disease advancing, as defined by the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS), when compared to chemotherapy alone. No new safety signals were observed in either of these studies and the safety profile was consistent with previous experience with Rituxan. Results from both studies were featured today during a press briefing at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco. "The... Read more at this website... |
