New Calendar Celebrates Transplant Miracles
Are you looking for a holiday gift that speaks joy and hope? Then look no further. BMT InfoNet is pleased to offer a full year of hope for 2002: a beautiful calendar that celebrates 13 miracles. Each month, the calendar introduces you — with a color photo and an essay — to someone who is active and full of life. The survivors are from different walks of life and different parts of North America, are different ages, have different ethnic backgrounds, and had different diagnoses. The Celebrating Life calendar shares their uplifting stories. Celebrating Life 2002 will raise money for the Blood and Marrow Transplant Information Network and spread awareness of the many services it provides. Visit the BMT InfoNet Web site for more information.
(Dec. 13, 2001)
AML Patients Sought For New Clinical Trial
James Griffin, M.D., the principal investigator of one of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Specialized Centers of Research (SCOR), has announced the start of a clinical trial to treat
patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) with a new type of molecularly
targeted therapy. Thirty percent of patients with AML have a mutation that activates a key growth regulatory molecule called FLT3 in the leukemic cells. The new
clinical trial will test the ability of an inhibitor of FLT3 to induce
responses in this disease. The new trial will open at two cancer centers in
the near future, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Institute in New York City, and will be headed by Richard M. Stone
M.D., from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Patients eligible for the trial
will be restricted to those AML patients whose cells have a FLT3 mutation.
FLT3 is a type of growth factor receptor called a tyrosine kinase. When
mutated, FLT3 causes leukemic cells to grow at an accelerated rate. The new
drug being tested is designed to inhibit the tyrosine kinase activity of FLT3,
and specifically blocks the leukemic cells from proliferating.
(Dec. 8, 2001)
UK Health Authorities Ordered To Pay For Drugs
The UK government says that health authorities are to be legally obliged to pay for drugs recommended by a controversial cost-effectiveness watchdog. There has been criticism that even when drugs are recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), authorities do not always have the money to pay for them. To tackle this problem, Health Minister Lord Philip Hunt said the government would now issue directions placing the authorities under a legal obligation to provide funding for recommended treatments. "From the first of January 2002 the NHS will have 3 months from the date of publication of each technology assessment to provide funding, so that clinical decisions made by doctors involving NICE recommended treatments of drugs can be funded," Hunt said.
(Dec. 5, 2001)
NCI Seeks Consumer Advocates
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), the federal government's primary agency
for funding cancer research, is seeking nominations for five new members of
the Director's Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG) who will be appointed in July
2002. The DCLG consists of 15 consumer advocates who are involved in cancer
advocacy and who reflect the diversity among those whose lives are affected
by cancer. The federally chartered advisory committee makes recommendations
to the director of NCI from the consumer advocate perspective on a variety
of issues and research priorities. To be eligible for the DCLG, a nominee must be involved in the cancer experience: a cancer survivor, a person affected by the suffering and
consequences of cancer, or a professional/volunteer who works with survivors
or those affected. Nominees must represent a constituency. To receive the nomination package for the DCLG, complete a request form and return it electronically or by mail to the address on the request form. Nominations must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2002. For more info, visit the NCI Web site.
(Dec. 5, 2001)
Multiple myeloma drug shows promise in trials
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., says a
phase I clinical trial of its investigational drug, LDP-341 (formerly known as
PS-341), in patients with multiple myeloma exhibited anti-tumor activity with
manageable side effects. The study results were announced at
the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer
Therapeutics in Miami Beach, Fla. Data from preclinical studies suggest that LDP-341 works by blocking proteasomes, which are enzymes in the cell responsible for breaking down a
variety of proteins, including many that regulate cell division. The studies suggest that by inhibiting the proteasome, LDP-341 in cancer cells leads to the accumulation of dysfunctional proteins, allowing them to build up to toxic levels, eventually resulting in cancer cell
death (apoptosis). Proteasome inhibition with LDP-341 may be an effective way
of targeting cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. While healthy cells
have certain repair mechanisms that appear to allow them to avoid dying
despite proteasome inhibition, cancer cells do not.
(Nov. 2, 2001)
Trials started for BAY 43-9006 in AML, MDS
Phase I data from clinical trials conducted at the Jules Bordet Institute of Belgium,
the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre and the Princess Margaret Hospital of
Canada were presented for BAY 43-9006, a small molecule Raf kinase
inhibitor, at the 12th Annual American Association for Cancer
Research-National Cancer Institute-European Organization for Research and
Treatment of Cancer (AACR-NCI-EORTC) International Conference in Miami,
Fla. BAY 43-9006 is being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Bayer Corp. BAY 43-9006 is a member of an emerging class of therapeutics directed toward specific molecular targets misregulated in cancer. BAY 43-9006
selectively blocks signal transduction in the Ras pathway by inhibiting a
specific enzyme known as Raf kinase, and is the first orally active compound
in this class to undergo clinical testing. The Ras signaling pathway is
believed to play an integral role in the genesis of many cancers, and blocking
this pathway could inhibit tumor growth. Bayer has already initiated a Phase I study in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.
(Nov. 1, 2001)
ImmunoGen sees early hope in AML drug My9-6-DM1
ImmunoGen Inc. said its new drug candidate to treat acute myelogenous
leukemia has shown promise in fighting human tumors in mice. The drug, called My9-6-DM1, is based on the Cambridge, Mass., company's seek-and-destroy technology to create cancer treatments that obliterate tumors without harming healthy cells. The technology, Tumor-Activated Prodrug, or TAP, delivers directly and only to tumors highly poisonous cancer-fighting agents that are 100 to 1,000 times more potent than traditional chemotherapy drugs. In studies of mice, ImmunoGen said, its new drug eliminated human tumors without toxic side effects or recurrences of cancer. Although research is still at an early stage, the company said it will move rapidly to evaluate the drug in additional animal studies and develop it for human use.
(Oct. 24, 2001)
U.S. leads world in cancer research
American scientists conduct more than a third of the
world's research on cancer treatment, but Canada, the Netherlands, Britain
and Australia are doing it better, new research suggests. A first-of-its-kind table ranks each country according to the impact of the cancer research produced between 1995 and 1999, based on the scientific papers its scientists produced. The analysis, presented at a meeting of the Federation of European Cancer Societies, was based on an Internet search of medical journals that retrieved records of experimental trials on chemotherapy alone or drug
therapy combined with other treatment. On volume alone, the United States led the world, followed by Italy, Britain, Japan, France and Germany. However, with regard to impact, American scientists placed fifth, closely followed by Finland, Israel, France, Austria, Yugoslavia, Sweden and Belgium. Canada topped the list, followed by the Netherlands, Britain and Australia.
(Oct. 23, 2001)
Israel opens cord blood bank
More than 5,000 people around the world unable to get compatible bone marrow to cure their cancer or other serious diseases could be helped if there were enough tissue banks storing umbilical cord blood. Now Israel has its own central umbilical cord blood bank, dedicated at Tel Hashomer by Magen David Adom in cooperation with the Israel Cancer Association. New mothers in most hospitals will be asked to donate their baby's umbilical cord. The world's umbilical cord blood banks have a combined inventory of 60,000 frozen units. The first umbilical cord blood donation occurred in France 13 years ago, the recipient a boy with Fanconi's anemia. The second was a child who suffered from chronic myeloid leukemia. Since then, about 2,000 transplants have had excellent results, with only a short period of time needed for the body to accept the foreign cells.
(Oct. 23, 2001)
Trisenox moves closer to European approval for APL
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) has received a recommendation for
approval from the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) for
TRISENOX(TM) (arsenic trioxide) injection in the treatment of
relapsed/refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a severe and life-
threatening form of blood cancer. The European Commission designated the medicinal product arsenic trioxide an orphan drug in October 2000 and the CPMP recommendation represents an
important step in advancing TRISENOX toward European approval. It is expected
that the commission will grant approval to arsenic trioxide following the CPMP
recommendation. TRISENOX was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration in 2000.
(Oct. 18, 2001)
China establishes bone marrow bank
A bone marrow bank has been set up in this capital of east China's Shandong Province, as a subsidiary of China Marrow Bank. Operated by the Red Cross Society, China Marrow Bank expects to gather at least 100,000 samples to meet the needs of leukemia sufferers in China. It has managed to collect some 30,000 samples so far. Sources say the establishment of the Shandong subsidiary is "an important move to expand the marrow bank." Ten more subsidiary banks will be set up in other Chinese provinces. So far, 15,000 citizens in Shandong have volunteered to donate bone marrow to the subsidiary bank.
(Aug. 28, 2001)
Few HMO patients take advantage of right to appeal
While Washington lawmakers and doctors nationwide clamor for HMO reform, few patients in Massachusetts are challenging the decisions of their health plans, despite new rights to do so. A review by the Boston Globe of the 31 appeals filed under the state's patients bill of rights, which took effect Jan. 1, shows that most were for relatively nonthreatening medical conditions. The appeals process allows patients denied medical care to ask an independent board to overrule their health plan. The review board ruled in favor of patients in seven of the appealed cases. In the other 24, health plan decisions to deny medical care were upheld. HMO reform advocates contend most patients are simply unaware of their rights under the new law. Thirty-eight other states, plus the District of Columbia, have an external review process simliar to Massachuesetts.
(Aug. 26, 2001)
Researchers create new treatment for AML
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center have developed a new gene-based therapy that they hope will transform one of the most lethal types of adult leukemia to one of the most treatable. The in-vitro findings related to the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were reported in the August 1, 2001, issue of Blood. In AML patients with FLT3 mutations, cells acquire an abnormally altered FLT3 gene that promotes the uncontrolled growth of myeloid cells and prevents the cells from dying. In their study, the Hopkins investigators used the drug AG1295 to interfere with abnormal FLT3 signaling, rendering it powerless. The first human trials at Johns Hopkins of a FLT3 inhibitor are in planning.
(Aug. 23, 2001)
Arkansas to build world's first multiple myeloma center
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will build the world's first institute dedicated entirely to the research and treatment of multiple
myeloma. UAMS' Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy will focus exclusively on pioneering research and developing innovative treatment. Highlights of the Myeloma Institute team's pioneering research include the recent discovery of Thalidomide as an effective therapy for myeloma, novel combination chemotherapies, and bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell
transplants with increased remission and more than 10-year survival rates. Doctors Bart Barlogie and Guido Tricot will lead the institute. UAMS' existing myeloma center already treats more multiple myeloma patients than any other cancer center in the world.
(Aug. 22, 2001)
California enacts cancer patient clinical trial law
A new law in California requires health insurers to cover all routine medical expenses incurred by cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials. The new law is said to be the strongest of its kind in the country. Modeled on language approved by the Clinton administration last fall for Medicare coverage of clinical trials, it requires coverage of hospitalization, physician visits, drugs, laboratory tests and other expenses for study participants with any type of cancer. All four phases of clinical trials are covered, and treating physicians will be able to refer patients to trials based on the potential benefit to the patient.
(Aug. 9, 2001)
Breast cancer stamp has raised $21 million
The special postage stamp designed to raise funds has brought in $21.5 million for research. About 312.7 million of the 40-cent stamps have been sold. Money raised in excess of the 34 cents for regular stamps is donated to research for breast cancer. The stamp, a "semipostal," has only a year left on the market. The U.S. Post Office is already seeking a replacement semipostal. Money can go only to government agencies, not private charities or individuals.
(July 27, 2001)
Karmanos opens new center to study cancer cells
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University has created the Center for Cell Therapy. The center will focus on the acceleration and enablement of new cell therapies to treat cancer and other debilitating diseases. It will launch clinical studies with the AastromReplicell System using cord blood-derived cells intended to provide a normal blood and immune system in leukemia patients. The CCT will also initiate a project
using the AastromReplicell System and Dendricell cell product to
produce dendritic cell-based vaccines intended to treat cancer. The new center, opened in conjunction with Aastrom Biosciences Inc., is initially being funded through
a $2.2 million grant awarded from the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation by the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor Initiative, along with other
contributions from the Institute and Aastrom. Learn more.
(July 14, 2001)
Singer Mandy Moore named LSA youth campaign chair
Multi-Platinum Artist Mandy Moore, whose third album, "Mandy Moore," was recently released and features the single, "In My Pocket," will serve as the 2001 national honorary
chairperson of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's School & Youth Campaign. The campaign includes programs such as Pasta For Pennies, Pennies For Patients and Hop For Leukemia. School & Youth programs nationally rank second in the amount of money raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2001, it's hoped that $9.5 million will be raised. For more information the School & Youth programs, call (513) 583-8900. Learn more.
(July 14, 2001)
Protein kinase conference unveils new discoveries
Late-breaking advances in protein kinase research and development spanning multiple therapeutic classes will be the focus of the first-ever "Protein Kinases in Drug Discovery &
Development" taking place in Princeton, N.J., October 15-16, 2001. The meeting, divided into three discrete sections — discovery & research; pre-clinical development; and
clinical development — will feature prominent pharmaceutical, biotech, and
academic scientists and their newest findings. Presenting papers on behalf of the industry will be Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Sugen, Novartis, Roche Bioscience, RW Johnson PRI,
Abbott Bioresearch Labs, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Cephalon, Cor
Therapeutics, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, ImClone Systems, Merck
Research Labs, Wyeth-Ayerst, Nanogen, Cellular Genomics, and Cyclacel.
Albert Einstein School of Medicine, New York University, Salk Institute, and
the University of Dundee will represent academia. Learn more.
(July 14, 2001)
Scientists developing personalized drug treatment
For some patients, the future of personalized pharmacogenomics is already here. Each year, about 2,400 children in the United States are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that often can be cured with a combination of drugs that includes 6-mercaptopurine. However, standard doses of this antileukemic agent can cause potentially life-threatening toxicity in about one of every 300 patients, who have an inherited deficiency in thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT), the enzyme that metabolizes 6-mercaptopurine and other thiopurine drugs. At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, William E. Evans and his colleagues have developed a DNA-based test that allows doctors to predict patients' TPMT activity, based on whether they have inherited the alleles associated with enzyme deficiency. The test categorizes patients according to normal and deficient TPMT activity. Read more.
(June 8, 2001)
Rainforest researchers hunt for cancer cures
For most of us, the name "Brazil" conjures up images of dense Amazon forests, idyllic beaches, and Carnival parties. But if a group of scientists working in the southeastern city of Porto Alegre have their way, in years to come the name will also bring to mind images of sophisticated drug-development laboratories and novel anticancer therapies. At the South American Office for Anticancer Drug Development (SOAD), researchers screen terrestrial plants and marine life for new therapeutic compounds that can block cancer cell growth. And while they don't yet have any drugs for sale or in clinical trials, they do have a series of compounds that look promising. Read more at the HMS Beagle.
(June 8, 2001)
U.S. cancer rate down — but not for women
The number of cancer-related death rates in the United States dropped by 1.1% per year between 1992 and 1998, according to the annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The news is even better for men, who exhibited a 3% per year decline in cancer incidence over the same period. The reduction in mortality among women was only half of that observed in men, and cancer incidence in women actually increased by 0.3% per year. Death rates due to the top 10 cancers decreased during the study period except for those attributable to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and female lung cancer. Incidence rates also dropped, with the exception of trends for increases in melanoma and female breast cancer.
(June 1, 2001)
States offer Medicare for uninsured cancer patients
Another six states have been approved to offer Medicare benefits to uninsured women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer, under a new federal program aimed at improving the screening and treatment of uninsured women. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted approval for the participation of Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, Illinois, Indiana and Montana. These states now join Rhode Island, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Maryland. The federal program offers coverage to uninsured women for the duration of their treatment if they were screened through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Since that program began in 1990, more than 2.7 million screening tests have been provided to more than 1.7 million women.
(June 1, 2001)
"Mini" transplants offer hopeful alternative
For people over age 50with leukemia or some other potentially fatal blood cancers, there may now be the option of treatment with a donor stem cell transplant. Researchers report that low-dose radiation therapy combined with immunosuppressive drugs allows donor stem-cell transplants in patients who cannot have conventional stem-cell transplants using donor stem cells or their own stem cells. Results from the study were published in the June 1 issue of the journal Blood. In the study led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, researchers found that non-myeloablative stem-cell transplants, also known as mini-transplants, involved low doses of radiation, coupled with post-transplant immune suppression, to establish a stable state of tolerance between the donor cells and the patient's own tissues, a phenomenon called "mixed hematopoietic chimerism."
(May 31, 2001)
Beloved leukemia patient was a hoax
Thousands of people visited the Website of Kaycee Nicole Swenson, a 19 year old from Kansas who died from complications of leukemia in mid-May. Problem is, Kaycee never existed. Her chronicles, followed by concerned people around the world, were made up by Debbie Swenson, 40. Many people came to feel as though they knew Kaycee and even talked to her — really Swenson — on the phone and via instant messaging. Dubious Web surfers eventually uncovered the scam, after Swenson, posing as Kaycee's mother, said the girl had died.
(May 31, 2001)
Interferon therapy linked to asymptomatic retinopathy
Regular screenings are needed to identify retinal toxicity in cancer patients receiving
long-term maintenance interferon, say researchers with the M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. In the May issue of Ophthalmology, doctors describe three of their patients who sustained such interferon-induced ocular
complications. One patient was treated with interferon for varying lengths for lymphoma, another for chronic myelogenous leukemia, and another for malignant melanoma.
(May 21, 2001)
Gene courier offers hope for leukemia vaccine
Italian researchers say they have engineered a defective "lentivirus" that could carry genes into leukemic cells, promising hope for a cancer vaccine — some day. The defective lentivirus was developed from the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). The lentivirus carried the green fluorescent protein gene (EGFP) to transduce an anti-cancer response in primary acute myelogenous leukemia and B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. "These preliminary data suggest that gene delivery into primary human AML and B-precursor ALL cells by an HIV-1 derived lentiviral vector could
represent a strategy for engineering leukemic cells for use as cancer vaccines," the researchers concluded in the journal Haematologica. (March 29, 2001)
Warning issued for arsenic trioxide patients
Cell Therapeutics Inc. is warning doctors about a recent study linking use of arsenic trioxide — now being tested by leukemia patients — to potentially fatal cardiac problems. CTI, however, said the arsenic trioxide used in the study in question is not the company's own version, called Trisenox. The study was reported March 1 in the journal Blood. Three
patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received the investigational
arsenic trioxide developed a form of ventricular tachycardia. Two of the patients died of cardiac
arrhythmia. Trisenox was launched in October, and no cardiac deaths have been reported
in patients to date, the company said. The letter urges healthcare providers
to report any adverse events experienced by their patients using Trisenox to
either the company or to the FDA. (March 22, 2001)
Epstein-Barr implicated in breast, lymphatic cancers
Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School have found a link between the common Epstein-Barr virus and aggressive breast cancer and lymphatic cancer. A paper published in the March 2001 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers show how the EBV alters the function of a cellular protein that normally suppresses the movement of malignant cells. When the virus disables this natural brake on cell migration, cancerous breast and lymphatic cells are able to spread. Although the virus is common in humans, most cells infected by EBV do not become malignant. The EBV already is associated with other human cancers, including Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Hodgkin's disease and invasive breast cancer. (March 22, 2001)
EPA backs down on water's arsenic regulations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is withdrawing regulations that would have reduced the acceptable amount of arsenic in drinking water. The new rule, which would have required thousands of communities to upgrade their water treatment plants, was supposed to take effect March 23. But EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said the agency will seek an independent review of the new arsenic standard, which was proposed three days before President Clinton left office. The review will also examine how much it will cost communities to comply with the new standards, which are to reduce allowable arsenic levels from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion. The EPA is expected to decide within 60 days whether it will stand by the new standard. Arsenic has been cited as a possible cause of certain kinds of leukemia. (March 21, 2001)
CMML patients recruited for new clinical trial
BresaGen has begun recruiting patients for a Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of E21R for the treatment of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. The study will be conducted at four sites in
Australia, the company said. CMML is a chronic proliferative disease of mature white blood cells, most
common in middle-aged and elderly patients. Chemotherapy drugs are used to
treat the disease, but usually produce toxic side effects. The drug has been shown to act on leukemic cells in laboratory studies by inhibiting growth of the leukemic cells and also by inducing death of the cells. Results from a Phase I clinical trial of E21R showed the drug to be well tolerated over a 10-day course of treatment and did not demonstrate the
toxic side effects associated with existing leukemia treatments. BRITISH BIOTECH PLC (London, England) has been granted an exclusive worldwide license to commercialize E21R for all indications and will carry
out the necessary clinical studies to obtain regulatory approval for acute
myeloid leukemia. AML, or myelodysplasia, is the abnormal or defective
formation of the bone marrow cells. (March 8, 2001)
Nobel laureates back stem cell research
Eighty U.S. Nobel laureates have signed a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to not block the first flow of federal grants for research on human embryo cells, The Washington Post reports. The letter marks the latest effort to influence the Bush Administration as it decides whether to
fund experiments on embryonic stem cells. It comes three weeks before a National Institutes of Health deadline by which scientists must apply for the agency's planned first round of stem cell research grants, the report noted. Researchers say stem cells, taken from frozen embryos that fertility clinics were planning to discard, can one day cure a range of diseases from diabetes
to paralysis. Opponents call the research immoral. But, according to the Post, the Nobel laureates say in their letter to Bush that given the cells' great therapeutic promise, it would be immoral not to
study them. The letter was composed and circulated by Michael West and Robert Lanza, two
scientists at Advanced Cell Technology Inc., a biotechnology company in
Worcester, Massachusetts.
(Feb. 22, 2001)
Cosmic radiation puts air crews at leukemia risk
The radiation exposure that comes from flying for long periods might increase the risk of leukemia by causing genetic damage, a Danish study says. But researchers say passengers should not fret. Driving, they say, actually poses more of a danger. The findings by researchers at the University Hospital Copenhagen National Clinic of Aviation Medicine, whose group reports a genetic study of seven
air crew members, is published in the latest issue of The Lancet. All seven were treated for acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplasia. The study points an accusing finger at high-altitude effects of cosmic
radiation, which bathes the universe and is mostly absorbed by the earth's atmosphere before it reaches the ground. But expanded studies are needed to confirm any link between leukemia in air crews and cosmic radiation.
(Feb. 22, 2001)
Cell Therapeutics posts bigger loss
Biotechnology company Cell Therapeutics Inc., which plans to conduct clinical studies of Trisenox against chronic myelogenous leukemia, reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss in 2000. The company posted a net loss in the quarter of $15.2 million, or a loss of 47 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $13.5 million, or 87 cents per share, a year earlier. Trisenox, its main product, received FDA approval in September for treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Read more about Trisenox here.
(Feb. 15, 2001)
Cotton, other fabrics transmit deadly spores
Clothing can transport disease-causing spores into hospital rooms, say researchers at Cornell University. People with weak immune systems, such as those undergoing chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, are especially vulnerable to spores. When inhaled into the lungs, the spores can cause severe infections. About 90 percent of BMT patients who contract illnesses caused by these spores die, one study says. Another study says that illnesses caused by Aspergillus spores claim 40 percent of leukemia patients. Hospitals do take precautions to keep out the spores. But the Cornell researchers say hospitals should encourage wearing freshly laundered gowns over street clothes to keep the world's airborne dangers outside. The researchers looked at seven types of fabric to see if they picked up and carried spores: cotton, cotton flannel, polyester, cotton/polyester blend, cotton muslin, lyocell chambray, and rayon chambray. Because of its rough surface contours, cotton released more spores than any other fabric. Fabrics with smoother surfaces, like polyester, held on to fewer spores.
(Feb. 15, 2001)
ValiGene halts preclinical CML studies
ValiGen has suspended research into a potential treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia. The company, recently created by the merger of Kimeragen and Valigene, will instead focus its research efforts on functional genomics and therapeutics targeting metabolic diseases, Richard Metz, the company's executive director of product development, tells CMLSupport.com. "With respect to
the therapeutic program, we reasoned that Chimeraplast delivery was one of the main challenges facing our drug development efforts. Delivery to the liver was our specific focus since several metabolic diseases can be treated by targeting this organ and we have had a fair amount of advancement in this area. We feel that this "focusing" was necessary and lead to a greater
measure of success. The success in this area would then allow us to develop therapeutics for other diseases later on. Therefore, we maintain an interest in and commitment to treating CML but feel limited by the available resources," Metz says. ValiGen was conducting preclinical CML studies in the United States with an oligonucleotide, designed using its proprietary
Genoplasty technology.
(Feb. 4, 2001)
Study: Peripheral blood cell transplants are better
Patients who received a peripheral blood cell transplant, rather than a bone marrow transplant, recovered faster, required fewer platelet transfusions, and saw their blood counts return to normal faster, according to a large randomized trial reported in the Jan. 18, 2001, New England Journal of Medicine. Both kinds of transplants are used to fight deadly cancers like leukemia and lymphoma after patients' bone marrow has been destroyed by high-dose chemotherapy and radiation to rid it of cancer. In the NEJM study, cells taken from donors' blood streams and transplanted into patients took effect more quickly than marrow, without increased risk of complications. The study was led by Dr. William Bensinger at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash. Results also indicated that survival rates among patients with more advanced cancers was higher following a peripheral blood cell transplant — about 66 percent after two years vs. 54 percent with a bone marrow transplant.
(Jan. 19 , 2001)
CML vaccine trial opens in Italy
Sclavo, part of the Italian-based Marcucci Group of pharmaceutical companies, has begun a phase II trail in Italy with its potential vaccine against chronic myelogenous leukemia. The trial will enroll just 15 patients, who will receive six vaccinations over a 12-week period, according to R&D Focus Drug News. The vaccine is derived from amino acid sequences crossing the b3a2 breakpoint in p210, in combination with QS 21 adjuvant and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor. Preliminary results from the first two patients were reported at the 42nd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco in December 2000. A prompt and sustained delayed-type hypersensitivity response occurred
after the third and sixth vaccinations and remained evident for six months after treatment had completed. One patient had strong peptide-specific T cell proliferation and complete cytogenic response that persisted after the final vaccination, R&D Focus reported.
(Jan. 7, 2001)
NATO warned of uranium risks
NATO warned countries with armies and aid workers in the Balkans as long ago as last summer about the possible dangers of depleted uranium ammunition, which has recently sparked concern as a possible cause of serious illnesses, including leukemia, in soldiers who served there. The ammo was used by the United States during air campaigns across Yugoslavia for its armor-piercing qualities. According to an internal Defense Ministry document obtained by the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper and dated July 16, 1999, NATO had warned soldiers and aid workers that month of a "possible toxic threat" and advised them to take "preventative measures." The renewed concerns over depleted uranium arose in December 2000 after Italy said it's investigating 30 sick soldiers who served in the region. Twelve have cancer and five have died of leukemia. Since then, numerous other countries, including Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal, have launched testing programs. The United States has denied such health risks.
(Jan. 7, 2001)
No weenie roast, either
When Kevin Hearns, the keyboardist for the music group Bare Naked Ladies (not to be confused with the English women who posed nude for a calendar), was battling leukemia last year, forcing him off the road tour, it had a big impact both on him and other members of the group. While undergoing a stem cell transplant, Hearns told a fan, "I'm not having a marshmallow roast over here." Said a bandmember: "His [illness] definitely taught us that this band isn't just about business and success. It's about people we care about
who have had impact on our lives."
(Jan. 2, 2001)
Nevada investigates childhood ALL cases
The Nevada State Health Division is investigating a possible link between several cases of acute lymphacytic leukemia after eight children have been diagnosed in the rural town of Fallon since March 1999. A ninth child was just diagnosed in November 2000. "To see this many cases all of a sudden is unusual," state epidemiologist Randall Todd told a local newspaper.
(Jan. 1, 2001)
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