Luke lively

[Gob]

A new drug has eliminated cancer in almost a quarter of patients with advanced leukaemia, early trial results show, in a breakthrough that also shows promise for the treatment of other cancers.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were the first in the world to receive the drug, ABT-199, developed by scientists from two US drug companies in partnership with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

Preliminary findings reported overnight at the American Society of Haematology annual meeting in New Orleans reveal the drug has achieved outstanding results in a phase one trial of 67 patients – clearing cancer in 23 per cent of patients and achieving partial remission in a further 61 per cent.

Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute chair of haematology, John Seymour, said while trials were at an early stage, the drug's success was unprecedented. "Patients on the trial were typically incurable, with an average life expectancy of up to 18 months, so to see complete clearance of cancer in nearly one quarter of these patients after taking this single therapy is incredibly encouraging," he said.


Walter and Eliza Hall Institute haematologist Andrew Roberts said the drug worked by targeting a protein called Bcl-2, which reached levels that were too high in some cancer cells and made them "basically indestructible". He said the protein and its significance in leukaemia was first identified by scientists at the Melbourne-based institute in 1988, and had long been a target of scientists trying to develop anti-cancer drugs.

Professor Seymour said patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia typically had chemotherapy treatment once a month for between four and 12 months, and patients in the trial had undergone up to 11 such treatments without any success.

"It is still very early in the development of the drug and learning how to best give it is still ahead of us but the early signals are profoundly encouraging," he said.

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Every bit a progress is good news.