Sequential treatment with Zolinza, idarubicin, and cytarabine is safe and highly effective in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes, according to results from a recent Phase 2 study.

The study authors also found that patients with mutations in the FLT-3 gene responded particularly well to the drug combination, yielding an overall response rate of 100 percent.

Dr. Guillermo Garcia-Manero of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston presented these findings at the 2011 American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference in San Diego last month.

Zolinza (vorinostat), which…

Treatment with Clolar and high-dose cytarabine, followed by reduced-intensity preparative therapy prior to stem cell transplantation, may be effective and safe in patients with high-risk leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, according to a recent retrospective study conducted in Germany.

The study authors suggest that this protocol may be particularly useful for older, high-risk patients with advanced disease who cannot undergo conventional preparative therapy.

However, they point out that prospective trials are needed to confirm their findings.

High-dose chemotherapy is traditionally given to patients prior to stem cell transplantation in order to…

According to a recent German study, a quick sequence of two drug regimens has shown promise as preparative therapy prior to stem cell transplantation in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.

The German regimen involves four days of treatment with fludarabine, amsacrine, and high-dose cytarabine followed, several days later, by a single high dose of melphalan.

The researchers investigating this regimen found that 97 percent of the patients who received it achieved complete remission within one month following their stem cell transplant.

Stem cell transplantation is currently the only potentially curative treatment available to patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

In this procedure, patients first receive one or more drugs intended…

Results of a small Phase 2 trial indicate that a combination therapy of Dacogen, cytarabine, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor therapy is not more effective than the current standard of care for high-risk MDS patients with other diseases.

The study results were presented during a poster session on Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Dacogen (decitabine) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat all types of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Cytarabine (Cytosar-U) is a chemotherapy agent that has been used for the…

Results of a Phase 1/2 study suggest that tipifarnib in combination with cytarabine and idarubicin is effective and safe in high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia patients.

However, the study authors pointed out that the response and survival rates associated with this treatment were similar to those that can be achieved with cytarabine and idarubicin alone. Only patients with abnormalities in chromosomes 5 and 7 showed a trend for better response rates with the tipifarnib-based combination treatment compared to cytarabine and idarubicin alone.

The study authors therefore recommended that…