New Hope for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

The compound AMN107 has been shown to be more effective than Gleevec for the first-line treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) according to recent data from researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and scientists at Novartis AG in Switzerland. Researchers involved in the study were aiming to find a comparable drug to Gleevec for the treatment of CML, but one that targeted more of the cancer cells. According to a recent article in Cancer, AMN107 is 20 times more potent than Gleevec. Lead author Dr. James Griffin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said, "While?approximately 95% of patients treated with Gleevec achieve remission, there clearly is a need for therapies that produce longer remissions, are active against advanced disease, and can be used when Gleevec loses effectiveness."

Ms. Farley is a freelance medical writer based in Wakefield, RI.