BUFFALO, N.Y., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say patients treated with lenalidomide for relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia have shown a major positive response to the therapy.
The phase II study was conducted by Dr. Asher Chanan-Khan and colleagues at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. -- the first U.S. cancer research, treatment and education center, founded in 1898.
"Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is the most common hematologic malignancy in the western hemisphere," said 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.
Chanan-Khan said lenalidomide is a novel immune modulating, non-chemotherapy, cancer drug that is chemically similar to thalidomide. But it is more potent in the laboratory and appears to lack some of the more common side effects of thalidomide. Anticancer activity of the agent has been reported in various malignant disorders, including multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndrome.
The current study's results are published in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
