Dec. 6, 2006 — When first introduced in 2001, Gleevec was hailed as a miracle sedate poised to usher in a modern age in cancer treatment. Presently, five a long time later, it appears that guarantee is being fulfilled.
The longest follow-up yet of unremitting myeloid leukemial (CML) patients treated with Gleevec shows a survival rate of 95% after five a long time. (The survival rate does not number individuals who died from causes unrelated to CML or stem-cell transplantation). Some time recently the drug’s introduction, almost half of patients passed on inside five a long time of conclusion.
And there is more good news. Relapse rates appear to be trending down the longer patients stay on the medicate. After three a long time of treatment, 15% of patients in the study experienced backslides. Two a long time afterward, that figure had risen by just 2%.
Gleevec was the first treatment to specifically target cancer cells, taking off healthy cells unharmed. It is promoted by Swiss medicate producer Novartis. Novartis could be a WebMD sponsor.
The five-year information raise hopes that the novel treatment has turned a dangerous leukemia into a to a great extent reasonable illness, says Oregon Wellbeing & Science University Cancer Established researcher Brian J. Druker, MD, who led the research team that developed Gleevec.
The findings moreover support trusts that similar drugs will work as well against other cancers. Many of these drugs are as of now on the market and many more are being explored.
“My see is that we are at the cusp of a new period in treating cancer,” Druker tells WebMD. “Our objective is to convert cancer from a fear diagnosis into a diagnosis that individuals not fear.”
Treatment for Life
Gleevec quickly became the treatment of choice for CML after its endorsement five years ago, and it is now also endorsed for a specific gastrointestinal cancer and several other rare malignancies.
It does not cure patients of their cancers; it keeps the cancers from growing. Patients taking Gleevec are prescribed to preserve treatment for life to assist avoid relapse of the disease. It’s not however clear why the drug isn’t able to cure the disease.
“The trust is that we can take patients with well-controlled disease and cure them, so they no longer require pharmaceutical,” Druker says. “But we are certainly quite upbeat to have a treatment that controls their disease.”
The newly published follow-up included 553 CML patients who were among the primary to be treated with Gleevec.
After five years on the drug, 90% of the patients were still lively and as it were 5% had kicked the bucket from their leukemia.
Just 4% of the patients in the study ceased taking the drug since of antagonistic side effects.
The findings show up within the Dec. 7 issue of The Modern England Diary of Pharmaceutical.
Modern Concerns Almost Security
Until as of late, it was thought that Gleevec was to a great extent free of long-term side impacts. But a ponder published final summer raised questions approximately its long-term safety.
Analysts from Houston’s College of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center displayed evidence that the treatment caused heart disappointment in 10 patients who took it. The finding incited Novartis and the FDA to warn specialists that patients taking the sedate ought to be carefully monitored for signs of heart inconvenience.
Druker tells WebMD that he has not seen an overabundance of heart issues in his patients on Gleevec, some of whom have been taking the medicate for as long as eight years.
Of the 553 patients within the study, as it were one developed heart failure that was thought to be related to the treatment, he says.
“In case [treatment-related heart issues] occur, our belief is that they are very rare,” he says. “And if you balance the benefits vs. the dangers, the weight of the prove favors taking this drug.”
There is small contention approximately that inside the therapeutic community.
American Cancer Society representative Len Lichtenfeld, MD, calls the introduction of Gleevec “a breakthrough occasion within the annals of cancer treatment.”
“Druker and his colleagues were able to demonstrate that a malady which 30 years prior was considered uniformly troublesome to treat and unavoidably fatal is presently treatable with a medicate that is able to deliver long, durable and significant reactions,” he says in a news release.
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