Benzene Leukemia Law Blog : Benzene and Leukemia Lawyer & Attorney : Burke & Eisner Law Firm : Benzene Exposure, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

Health physicians have reportedly discovered a new weapon that can be used to fight the oftentimes life-threatening illness known as leukemia. Although the drug was once dismissed as being ineffective for cancer treatment, new findings have revealed that this could just be the medication that helps fight leukemia.

Flavopiridol has shown beneficial results in both phase I and II clinical trials that involved 116 patients who were suffering from advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CCL). Researchers from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute have been conducting trials and studies on the drug in recent months.

Trial Results Revealed

In an estimated half of the patients involved in the trials, their response to Flavopiridol was supposedly positive. Many of the participants had chromosomal abnormalities that made it unlikely that they would be helped by standard therapies.

In recent years, treatment of this type of leukemia has improved; however, the disease, which affects about 15,000 people each year, is still incurable. It is also the most common type of adult leukemia and a majority of patients suffer significant infections caused by the disease and the treatment given to them.

Medication Background

During the 1980s, Flavopiridol was tested on animals and showed promise as an effective drug to treat leukemia. But when it was given to humans in repeated trials, it was ineffective and eventually researchers forgot all about the medication.

In recent years however, Ohio State researchers discovered that flavopiridol binds to proteins within the human blood, so it was revealed that in the earlier trials, humans were not getting enough of the drug for it to be effective.

"Flavopiridol has bridged the way for several CCL patients to receive a curative stem cell transplant," explains Dr. John Byrd, associate director of translational research and the principal investigator in the phase II trial.

 

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Novartis AG recently announced that their new cancer drug, Tasigna, is showing promise as an effective treatment for patients suffering from leukemia. According to a spokesperson for the company, Tasigna is effective and helpful for newly diagnosed patients who a living with life threatening forms of leukemia.

Data from the two mid-stage clinical trials was presented at the American Society of Hematology and proved that there was a fast elimination of cancer cells in 96 percent of patients who were given Tasigna as a form of treatment. Patients who were suffering from Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia were reportedly particularly responsive to the drug.  

"Tasigna now shows potential to become the treatment of choice for certain newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukemia," Novartis stated to reporters.

Tasigna Details

Tasigna has been approved for patients who are no longer responding to Glivec, which until now has been Novartis’ second-biggest seller and the most effective treatment for this deadly form of leukemia.  
Data which was presented to a panel of researchers showed that an estimated nine out of ten patients suffering from this type of leukemia are still living in a healthy state after enduring seven years of a clinical trial with Glivec. This proves to be the longest overall survival for patients who are living with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML.
Causes of CML

Leukemia and many other forms of cancer are commonly linked to exposure to the toxic chemical benzene. Benzene is a known carcinogen that is commonly used in various types of dyes, sodas, and is used as an additive in gasoline.

Those who are exposed to benzene over a long duration of time are at high risk of developing leukemia and other life altering illnesses due to the toxicity of the chemical.
 

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Recent reports claimed that Genzyme Corp. recently filed a new drug request with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a potential leukemia treatment. The company has been doing ongoing research on clofarabine and has supposedly found that the drug could help treat adult patients living with acute myeloid leukemia.

Genzyme has reportedly requested that the FDA conduct a priority review of the medication so it can begin being used to treat patients in the first half of the new year.

Drug Approved for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Clofarabine has already been approved to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has proven to be beneficial in patients. The drug has been used to treat relapsed and refractory pediatric patients who are between the ages of one and 21 years old. Now, the Genzyme is hoping the FDA will see how beneficial the medication can also be for patients living with acute myeloid leukemia.

Details of Leukemia Medication

Clorfarabine has been sold under the brand name Clolar in the U.S. market and was developed by ILEX Oncology, which is based out of San Antonio, Texas. ILEX is reportedly a predecessor company to Genzyme Oncology, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The drug was originally created to target certain drugs, aside from leukemia; however, researchers are finding that it could be the effective treatment needed to help patients living with this sometimes fatal illness.

Genzyme and its partner company, along with researchers who have worked hard to uncover the benefits of this medication are hoping that the FDA will work fast for patients to begin being treated.




 

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According to research from the Moores Cancer Center at the University if California, San Diego, clinical trials are currently underway for a new novel leukemia therapy. The therapy reportedly focuses on increasing the immune system so it can more effectively combat a difficult-to-treat form of leukemia.

This new form of therapy is supposedly going to start being offered to patients who have chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and whose cancer isn’t responding to other more standard forms of treatment.

How the Treatment Will Work

In the clinical trial, patients will receive a vaccine of a molecule that has been found to have immune-boosting capabilities, known as ISF35. This vaccine is then followed by a three course treatment of rituximab, which is a monoclonal antibody, and two additional chemotherapy drugs. This trial has been deemed as being Phase I of the treatment, which means that it is aimed at testing the safety of the combination of all of these medications and treatments together.

"This approach – activating immune cells followed by chemotherapy – may lead to new strategies that could be applied to other cancers," explains Januario E. Castro, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, who has served as the lead of the research team.

This treatment is thought to be the ideal approach doctors have been seeking to target cancer cells and activate the immune system. It can reportedly do so by making the leukemia B cells, which are cancerous, more visible. In turn, the immune system will be able to easily find and effectively eliminate the cancer cells.

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