New Hope for Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

New Hope for Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

December 05, 2006

    BUFFALO, N.Y., Dec. 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- 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. For more information, visit RPCI's website at
www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724)
or e-mail [e-mail].

    For more information, please contact:

     Deborah Pettibone
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Roswell Park Cancer Institute