NEARLY 90 PERCENT OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA WHO WERE TREATED WITH NOVARTIS AG'S GLEEVEC WERE ALIVE AFTER FIVE YEARS, NEW DATA SHOWS, COMPARED TO THE NO MORE THAN 50 PERCENT SURVIVAL RATE WITH OTHER THERAPIES, REUTERS REPORTED. DATA PRESENTED ON SATURDAY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGISTS IN ATLANTA SHOWED THAT AT FIVE YEARS, THE OVERALL SURVIVAL OF 553 PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED GLEEVEC AS THEIR INITIAL THERAPY WAS 89 PERCENT. "THIS TREND, IF IT HOLDS, COUPLED WITH THE LOW RISK OF RELAPSE, MEANS THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF LONG-TERM SURVIVAL WITH CML IS INCREASINGLY LIKELY," SAID DR. BRIAN DRUKER, WHO HELPED DEVELOP GLEEVEC AND IS A CHAIR OF LEUKEMIA RESEARCH IN THE OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY CANCER INSTITUTE. THE TYPICAL RATE OF SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WHO TOOK OTHER THERAPIES WAS NO MORE THAN 50 PERCENT, INVESTIGATORS SAID. THE TRIAL WAS BEGUN IN 2000 AND INVOLVED 1,106 SUBJECTS. HALF RECEIVED GLEEVEC AND HALF RECEIVED STANDARD TREATMENT AT THE TIME THE TRIAL STARTED -- INTERFERON-ALPHA AND CYTARABINE ARABINOSIDE. PARTICIPANTS WERE ALLOWED TO CROSS OVER TO THE GLEEVEC GROUP AND ONLY 3 PERCENT REMAIN ON INTERFERON. GLEEVEC WAS APPROVED IN 2001 BY THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. IN 2002 IT WAS APPROVED FOR GASTROINTESTINAL STROMAL TUMORS (GIST), A RARE FORM OF ABDOMINAL CANCER, IN 2002. ABOUT 4,600 NEW CML CASES ARE DIAGNOSED EACH YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES, ACCORDING TO THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY. ON FRIDAY, AN FDA ADVISORY PANEL RECOMMENDED THE AGENCY APPROVE AN EXPERIMENTAL BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB CO. PILL FOR PATIENTS WHO HAD FAILED OTHER TREATMENTS. THE DRUG, SPRYCEL, REDUCED OR ELIMINATED LEUKEMIA CELLS IN SOME PATIENTS WHO HAD STOPPED RESPONDING TO GLEEVEC OR COULD NOT TOLERATE IT. SO FAR IT IS UNKNOWN HOW LONG THE EFFECTS LAST OR WHETHER PATIENTS LIVE LONGER, FDA REVIEWERS SAID.
