Highlights
Drug Approval
Nelarabine (Arranon) has been approved for treating T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL).
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Drug Research
- New drug treatments have significantly improved the survival of patients with follicular lymphoma. According to a 2005 study, 91% of patients now survive at least 4 years, compared with 69% in previous years. The study found the best 4-year survival rates for patients who received CHOP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) followed by monoclonal antibodies (rituximab or iodine-131 tositumomab).
- A new type of cancer drug called Bexxar may help patients with advanced follicular lymphoma, a type of NHL thought incurable. Bexxar is a type of radioimmunotherapy. It contains a monoclonal antibody (tositumomab) that targets the tumor, and a radioactive substance (I-131) that delivers radiation directly to the cancer cells. In an encouraging study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the tumors of 95% of patients shrank after they received Bexxar as a first treatment, and the cancer completely disappeared in 75% of patients. Seventy percent of these patients were still disease-free 4 to 7 years later. The Bexxar treatment takes about 1 week to complete, a much shorter time that traditional chemotherapy regimens.
- Bexxar is approved for patients with follicular lymphoma who have not been helped by other cancer treatments, or whose cancer has come back after treatment. A review of clinical trials for patients with these types of lymphomas found that 47 - 68% improved after Bexxar treatment. In 20 –38% of these patients, the cancer went away.
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