Newer drug holds off leukemia longer

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- Using the drug fludarabine as the first line of defense keeps chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at bay longer than standard treatment, but it does not affect overall survival, according to a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

CLL is the most common form of leukemia in adults, striking about 8,100 people in the United States each year.

Fludarabine, sold under the brand name Fludara by Schering AG subsidiary Berlex Laboratories, has traditionally been used as a backup drug when treatment with another drug, chlorambucil, has failed. The new study was an attempt to see if the newer drug should be used first.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Are new drugs being approved fast enough?

After 40 years of treatment with chlorambucil, "a significant increase in the rate of remission has been demonstrated with fludarabine," concluded the research team, led by Kanti B. Rai of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.

The researchers found that five times as many patients had a complete remission when they were given fludarabine, compared to the patients who took chlorambucil, sold under the brand name Leukeran by Glaxo Wellcome.

But CLL is a stubborn disease. Even in the fludarabine group, 43 percent had only a partial response to the drug and 37 percent had virtually no response at all.

The remissions typically lasted 25 months for the fludarabine recipients, compared to just 14 months in patients who received the conventional drug.

The overall survival rate among the fludarabine patients was 66 months, which was not longer by a statistically significant margin than the 56 months for people who received standard treatment.

The Rai team also found that fludarabine was more likely to cause severe infections than the chlorambucil.

Treatment with a combination of the two drugs was halted when the regimen was found to be too toxic.

The Rai team cautioned that fludarabine may not always be the best treatment. The drug must be given intravenously, which makes it much less convenient than chlorambucil, which is sold as a pill.

"In older patients with other medical problems," they said, "the ease of administration of oral chlorambucil has obvious advantages."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Condition Clinic: Leukemia
Cancer drug produces dramatic results
December 2, 2000
Researchers report promising results with leukemia treatment
May 22, 2000

Schering International
New England Journal of Medicine
Berlex Laboratories Inc.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Leukemia Research Foundation
Long Island Jewish Medical Center Home Page

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.