Lenalidomide Research - RPCI

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New Hope For Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58119 & nfid=nl

05 Dec 2006

Patients treated with lenalidomide for relapsed chronic lymphocytic

leukemia (CLL) or disease that no longer responds to chemotherapy

have experienced a major response to therapy, according to a phase II

study conducted by Asher Chanan-Khan, MD, Department of Medicine,

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The results are published in

the December 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

" Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is the most common hematologic

malignancy in the western hemisphere, " according to Dr. Chanan-Khan,

" and remains incurable. " While several phase II studies have

demonstrated improved clinical response to chemotherapy alone, or

combined with the monoclonal antibody rituximab, relapse is

inevitable and treatment options at that point are limited.

Lenalidomide is a novel immune modulating, non-chemotherapy, cancer

drug that is chemically similar to thalidomide, but is more potent in

the laboratory and appears to lack some of the more common side

effects of thalidomide. Anticancer activity of this agent has been

reported in various malignant disorders, including multiple myeloma

and myelodysplastic syndrome.

In this phase II study -- the first to report clinical activity of

lenalidomide in patients with CLL -- 45 patients with

immunophenotypically diagnosed B-CLL were treated with a daily dose

of 25 mg of lenalidomide. Major clinical responses were seen in 21

(47%) of the patients, with four achieving complete response and 17

achieving a partial response; all with a predictable and manageable

safety profile. The most common side effects included fatigue,

neutropenia and thrombocytopenia.

" Collectively, these data provide strong support for further pursuit

of lenalidomide in confirmatory clinical studies that are now open at

Roswell Park and other cancer centers in the country, " notes Dr. Chanan-Khan.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation's first

cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only

National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center

headquartered in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the

prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the

nation's leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and

collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania and in China.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute

<http://www.roswellpark.org>http://www.roswellpark.org

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58119