Articles tagged with: Exjade
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved the drug Ferriprox for the treatment of iron overload in patients with thalassemia who have had an insufficient response to at least one other iron overload therapy.
Thalassemia is a genetic condition that causes anemia.
The FDA approval of Ferriprox (deferiprone), which will be marketed by the Canadian company ApoPharma, is in line with the recommendation the agency received from its Oncology Drug Advisory Committee, which met last month to review the drug (see related Beacon news).
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Phase 1 Trial With BP-100-1.01 Continues As Researchers Recruit More Patients – The biotechnology company Bio-Path Holdings announced last week that the first patients have been treated with its developmental drug BP-100-1.01 (liposomal Grb-2) during a Phase 1 clinical trial. BP-100-1.01 is being investigated as a treatment for blood cancers, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). According to Bio-Path Holdings, the drug was well tolerated and did not result in any treatment-related serious side effects. Despite using a low dose, the drug demonstrated anti-leukemia activity. The trial continues to recruit new patients, who will begin treatment with higher doses. For more information or to participate in the clinical trial, please see the Bio-Path press release and the clinical trial description.
MDS Experts Provide Recommendations On Prevention And Management Of Exjade-Related Gastrointestinal Side Effects – A panel of MDS experts have developed recommendations on the prevention and management of gastrointestinal problems caused by Exjade (deferasirox) treatment. Exjade removes excess iron from the body, which is a common complication associated with long-term transfusion dependence. The panel recommends that MDS patients take Exjade as a fasting dose 30 minutes prior to breakfast or dinner. In order to manage diarrhea, the most common Exjade-related side effect, MDS patients should remain hydrated, discontinue laxative use, take Exjade at night, and begin using the anti-diarrhea drug loperamide (Imodium). If the severity of diarrhea increases, the experts advise reducing the dosage or discontinuing Exjade treatment. To manage abdominal pain or vomiting, patients should take Exjade in the evening (not before bedtime) and refrain from solid foods two hours after treatment. For more information, please see the guidelines in Leukemia Research (abstract).
Free Conference for MDS Patients And Their Families In Chicago – On August 20, the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation will offer a free one-day conference in Chicago for MDS patients and their caregivers. The conference starts at 10 a.m. with a patient support group discussion. After lunch, new therapies and patient treatment options will be discussed, with time for a question and answer segment. For more information or to register, please see the MDS Foundation website.
For a more detailed listing of MDS-related events, please check the MDS Beacon Events Calendar.
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Researchers from the Czech Republic recently found that Exjade is an effective and safe treatment for the removal of excess iron in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes patients. Additionally, their analyses indicate that Exjade may be more effective than Ferriprox in lower-risk patients who have high iron levels in the blood.
Dr. Jaroslav Cermak, lead author of the study, presented the results at the 2011 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress in London.
Patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) may receive red blood cell transfusions to increase low red blood cell levels. Excess iron…
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Results of a recent literature review suggest that the treatment for excess iron may increase blood cell counts and decrease transfusion dependency in a small number of transfusion-dependent myelodysplastic syndromes patients.
“In some cases, the positive effects are really impressive,” said Dr. Pellegrino Musto, an Italian researcher and one of the review authors, “but, unfortunately, the percentage of patients who experience such a positive effect is quite small.” He estimated that only 5 to 8 percent of patients see these types of effects.
Dr. Musto and his colleagues therefore suggested…
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) evaluation of Exjade (deferasirox) has concluded that the drug should not be prescribed to myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients with poor prognoses or high-risk disease due to the possibility of liver or kidney impairment and gastrointestinal bleeding. It now requires Novartis, which markets Exjade, to include a highlighted “black box warning” in the prescribing information cautioning physicians and patients about its potentially serious or fatal side effects.
Exjade is an iron chelating agent that works to remove excess iron, which may have built up…