Preliminary results from two independent clinical trials indicate that panobinostat in combination with Vidaza may be effective and safe for higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes patients.

The studies were presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego this past December.

Panobinostat (LBH589), which is being developed by the pharmaceutical company Novartis (NYSE: NVS), belongs to a class of drugs known as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors.  HDAC inhibitors work by increasing the production of proteins that slow cell division and cause cell death.

When used alone, panobinostat has…

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting is currently being held in San Diego. This article will summarize the myelodysplastic syndromes-related highlights from Saturday, the first full day of the conference, and Sunday, the second day of the meeting.

Day 1

Saturday started off with an education session on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) that consisted of three talks. The program was repeated in the afternoon.  

The day ended with a large poster session, during which study results from hundreds of blood disorder-related studies were displayed on big posters…

Preliminary results of a Phase 2 trial show that the experimental drug panobinostat has little activity in patients with relapsed and resistant myelodysplastic syndromes.

However, because the drug was reasonably well tolerated, the study authors suggested the drug be investigated further in combination with other myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) treatments.

These results were presented at the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) earlier this month in Orlando by Dr. Ian W. Flinn of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville who led the clinical trial.

Panobinostat (LBH589), which…

The American Society of Hematology annual meeting was held earlier this month in Orlando.  The myelodysplastic syndromes portion of the conference concluded with a poster session on the third evening and a session of talks in the morning of the fourth and final day of the meeting.

Day 3 Poster Session

In the evening, results from a number of clinical trials for current MDS treatments as well as new drugs under development were presented during a poster session.

One study presented during the poster session compared the efficacy of Vidaza…