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Monday, May 16, 2005 Drug tested on blood disorder might fix genes Patients in study required fewer transfusions, and underlying cause of disease seemed to disappear. By MARILYNN MARCHIONE The Associated Press ORLANDO, FLA. - Doctors were hoping to treat just the symptoms of a deadly blood disorder when they gave people a drug to lower the need for transfusions. To their astonishment, signs of the disease itself disappeared in nearly half of them. Specialists said the experimental drug, Revlimid, looks like the first effective treatment for many people with myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, which is more common than leukemia. "It may be, if not eradicating the disease, putting it into what I would call deep remission," said Dr. David Johnson, a specialist at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center who is familiar with but had no role in the research. Researchers don't know how Revlimid works other than that it boosts the immune system. In small studies, it showed promise with far fewer side effects. In a new study, doctors tested it on 115 people with MDS who have the most common chromosome abnormality that causes the disease. After about six months on the drug, 66 percent no longer needed blood transfusions, said the study's leader, Dr. Alan List of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. A year later, three-fourths of them still don't need transfusions. But the big surprise was that signs of the genetic mutation fueling the disease diminished in 81 patients and vanished in 51. "The chromosome abnormality completely disappeared - something we've never seen before" from a drug aimed just at boosting red blood cells, List said. About one-third of people on Revlimid had temporary drops in other blood cells and clotting components, fixed by briefly interrupting treatment or lowering the dose. The study was sponsored by Revlimid manufacturer Celgene Corp. List is a consultant for the company and reported results Sunday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/V_qgJD/3MnJAA/xGEGAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Support List) --------------------------------- Part Of CMLHope.Com An International Community Of CML Patients For more information: http://cmlhope.com Post Message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To No Mail/Web: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CML Group Web Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
