Blood Cancer &
 Leukemia

ABNORMAL CHROMOSOMES FORECAST LEUKEMIA RELAPSE

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who enter remission with abnormal chromosomes in bone marrow cells are twice as vulnerable to recurrence of their disease as are AML patients with normal bone marrow cells at remission, according to a new study.

June 16th, 2004 From Ohio State University:
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who enter remission with abnormal chromosomes in bone marrow cells are twice as vulnerable to recurrence of their disease as are AML patients with normal bone marrow cells at remission, according to a new study.

The findings by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute call for routine testing for chromosomal abnormalities in AML patients at diagnosis and again when patients enter remission.
''Achieving complete remission is an important step for a successful treatment,'' Marcucci says, ''but it does not predict who will do well in the long run and who will relapse. We need additional diagnostic indicators like the presence of abnormal chromosomes.''

If verified, the findings mean that AML patients showing chromosomal abnormalities early during remission should be considered for more intensive treatment, such as a bone marrow transplant, in an attempt to prevent a return of the disease. Patients with normal-looking chromosomes can receive standard therapy. The findings are published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

''For the first time, we have shown in a relatively large group of patients that someone with AML who has abnormal chromosomes early during remission will relapse, even if blood counts and other parameters are favorable,'' says first author Guido Marcucci, associate professor of internal medicine and a hematologist/oncologist with OSU's James Cancer Hospital.

Since 1990, physicians have said that AML patients were in complete remission following treatment if their blood count was normal, and their bone marrow contained fewer than 5 percent of immature cells known as blasts. By that definition, 60 percent to 70 percent of AML patients achieve complete remission, but only 30 percent to 40 percent of those patients remain in remission long enough to be considered completely cured of their disease.

''Achieving complete remission is an important step for a successful treatment,'' Marcucci says, ''but it does not predict who will do well in the long run and who will relapse. We need additional diagnostic indicators like the presence of abnormal chromosomes.'' The study of abnormal chromosomes is known as cytogenetics. Chromosomal, or cytogenetic, abnormalities are seen at diagnosis in about 55 percent of all AML patients. The remaining 45 percent have normal-looking chromosomes, or normal cytogenetics.

The presence of cytogenetic abnormalities at diagnosis has long proven to be one of the most important prognostic factors for AML. Furthermore, the sensitive technology and methods needed for cytogenetic testing, which were formerly found mainly in research laboratories, are now widely available for use in clinical tests.

This retrospective study examined the outcomes of 118 AML patients who had received cytogenetic testing at the time of diagnosis and at the first day of complete remission. Of these, 103 patients had abnormal chromosomes at diagnosis and normal chromosomes at complete remission. These patients were compared to 15 others who had abnormal chromosomes at both diagnosis and at complete remission.

The results showed that patients with abnormal chromosomes at remission had a significantly shorter survival. They were twice as likely to relapse and die. Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that converting from abnormal chromosomes to normal chromosomes at remission is an import predictor of long-term outcome in AML, and supports the use of cytogenetics testing at remission

''These findings indicate that the old definition of remission isn't good enough,'' Marcucci says. ''We need to include cytogenetic complete remission as a criterion for complete remission in AML.'' Funding from the National Cancer Institute supported this research.

Scientists discover molecular target for treatment of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

A new research study published in the June issue of Cancer Cell identifies the molecular events that contribute to a notoriously treatment-resistant form of T cell leukemia. The findings reveal that disruption of immune cell differentiation is central to disease progression and provide new avenues for development of future therapeutics.

T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) accounts for 10%-15% of pediatric and 25% of adult ALL cases. A gene called TAL1/SCL is frequently activated in T-ALL patients, but exactly how it causes leukemia has not been clear. Dr. Michelle Kelliher, from the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, and colleagues examined how the TAL1/SCL protein contributes to leukemia.

The researchers demonstrate that TAL1/SCL induces leukemia by interfering with a protein called E47/HEB that regulates the expression of many different genes required for immune cell differentiation and survival. When these genes were experimentally inhibited by TAL1/SC1 in mice, the mice exhibited abnormal immune (T cell) development, and most eventually developed leukemia.

The researchers also showed that TAL1/SCL silences gene expression by recruiting a histone deacetylase (HDAC) repressor complex, and in fact, HDAC inhibitors were very effective at inhibiting the growth of TAL1/SCL tumor cells. "Our work demonstrates that TAL1/SCL induces leukemia by repressing E47/HEB activity, and suggests that HDAC inhibitors may prove efficacious in T-ALL patients who express TAL1/SCL. This is an important discovery, as these particular patients respond poorly to current chemotherapies and are at high risk for treatment failure," says Dr. Kelliher.

Jennifer ONeil, Jennifer Shank, Nicole Cusson, Cornelius Murre, and Michelle Kelliher: "TAL-1/SCL induces leukemia by inhibiting the transcriptional activity of E47/HEB"

Published in Cancer Cell, Volume 5, Number 6, June 2004.

Police Officer Battling Leukemia Keeping Spirits Up

June 13, 2004
Boonville Country Club opened their golf course, and countless others opened their hearts. From the golf fees to the food sales, all the money raised at Friday's benefit will not only help Evansville police officer Nathan Schroer pay for mounting medical bills but help him get a stem cell transplant in Houston that could save his life.

"There's only about a 17% chance of finding a match in the national bank of four million people," Schroer explains. He was diagnosed five months ago with acute myloginus leukemia. He's been hospitalized four times, and is still weak from recent chemotherapy. Still, Nathan wanted to make sure he was at the benefit Friday.

"I'm almost embarrassed about how much attention I've received," Schroer says. "I'm kind of sick of hearing about myself to be honest, but it makes me feel really good to know that there are people out there who care and they have no reason to other than that they're just caring people."

"I'm overwhelmed," says Nathan's mother Margery Williams. "I'm overwhelmed by it. People, who just don't have it to give, are giving. Thank you... I don't know what else to say, just thank you. Margery knows the reality of her son's disease. "It could be fatal, and he could be gone, and I know that," she says.

But Margery also knows her son is a fighter. "A couple weeks ago when he was doing chemo, he would get up and run three miles to his chemo and then go to work," She says. "He pushes himself, and I guess that's why this happened to him, because if it happened to anybody else they'd lay down and die. But Nathan's just not gonna let anything get him."

Friends, family and even strangers all hope it won't be long until Nathan is back full force. "My dad had colon cancer and they did a golf scramble for him and I played in it. And when Steve asked us to join this I was happy as could be to do it, because they did something for my dad and it really means something to me," family friend Jackie Howard. "I know exactly what they're going through. It's a really hard road." A road that everyone hopes is a road to recovery.

There are several more events coming up to raise money for Nathan's treatment. Sunday, there will be a benefit concert at Fast Eddie's in Evansville. Three bands will perform from 7:00pm to midnight. The entire $7 cover will go to Nathan's treatment. On June 25th, there will be a gospel sing at Northeast Park Baptist on Boeke. On July 10th, the FOP will hold a big auction at Pat Coslett's furniture.

Leukemia Society stunned to learn of alleged scam

June 11th, 2004
UPPER DARBY -- The executive director of the local Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was shocked to hear of the alleged theft of funds by a woman collecting for the organization who now stands charged with pocketing it for her own use.
"This volunteer was purportedly collecting money through the Societys Light the Night Walk campaign," Ken Singleton, of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter, said of the annual September fundraiser.

Light the Night is a nationwide evening walk to raise awareness of blood cancer and funds for a cure. "The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is shocked and disappointed to have learned that a volunteer fundraiser has defrauded the public by collecting money under the pretense of benefiting our organization when, in fact, this volunteer was using the money for personal purposes," Singleton said of the woman being detained in the county prison for a theft by deception charge.

Lisa Sue Yeager, 36, identified by police as the mother of a child stricken with leukemia, solicited money for about three months and allegedly spent the estimated $4,000 in cash collected on drugs, housing and food. Checks written to the LSS totaling $1,380, given to her by unsuspecting contributors were not cashed and were seized as evidence by police who arrested the woman June 7 in the Highland Park neighborhood. A tally sheet of money collected listing donors was also confiscated.

Yeager used a photograph of her leukemia-stricken daughter, who is in remission, to solicit donations for the cause. She knocked on residential doors, visited businesses, tapped patrons in local bars and approached pedestrians on the street with a story to tell about her daughter. Ralph DeSimone, an LSS spokesperson, cited the valiant efforts of other volunteers who support the organization through their fundraising efforts.

"A 12-year-old Springfield girl, Danielle Rogers, recently raised $51,000 in eight weeks," DeSimone said of the childs determination to raise funds after her brother, Mark, 6, was diagnosed with leukemia and is in remission. DeSimone announced the R.T. Richardson School, Springfield, collected $5,000 in the Pennies for Patients campaign.

"As the worlds largest voluntary health organization funding blood-cancer research and providing patient services, the society relies on the generosity and integrity of corporate and individual contributions to advance its mission," Singleton said. "Last year, our chapters Light the Night Walk raised more than $600,000. We are confident that this years walk will be even more successful, due to the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers."

According to Singleton, the LSS is cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the ever-broadening investigation encompassing many jurisdictions in the county. "Its an ongoing investigation," Detective Lt. George Rhoades Jr. said. "We are conferring with the district attorney because of the numerous victims. We received more than 20 more calls (Thursday) from other persons who gave her money."

Elderly leukemia patients benefit from intensive treatment

7-Jun-2004
Contrary to popular belief, patients over the age of 75 with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) do just as well as younger patients with similar chemotherapy regimens. A new study published June 7, 2004 in the online edition of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicates that age cutoffs by themselves are not appropriate selection tools in treatment decision-making for AML. The full study will be available via Wiley InterScience (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), and will be published in the July 15, 2004 print issue.

AML, a common cancer in people over 60 years old, remains a poorly treated disease with three-year survival rates of less than 10 percent. The poor outcome from the disease has been attributed both to the veracity of the tumor itself, which depends largely on its genetics, and comorbidities that further diminish the patient's own functional reserve. While induction chemotherapy has been shown to benefit patients under 75, a common yet unsubstantiated belief pervades the practice of oncology that patients over 75 will not benefit from definitive treatment.

Consequently, these elderly patients are often offered only palliative care. A team of investigators led by Dr. Norbert Vey of the Department of Hematology at the Institut Paoli-Calmettes in Marseille, France compared the outcome of 110 patients over 75 with 200 patients between the ages of 65-74 treated with similar protocols of chemotherapy.

The study found complete remission (CR) rates and two-year survival rates were similar between the two age groups when treated similarly. The most common treatment protocol, anthracyclin-based induction chemotherapy, resulted in CR rates of 45 percent in the patients over 75 and 49 percent in the patients aged 65-74. Two-year survival with this therapy was also similar at 27 percent in patients over 75 and 25 percent in patients aged 65-74.

According to analysis, the best predictor of survival was not age, but treatment protocol received (i.e. anthracyclin-based induction versus antimetabolite-based treatments). Moreover, achieving CR resulted in longer survival regardless of age.

The authors conclude that the data "indicates that selected patients aged >75 may benefit from intensive approaches to the same extent than less old patients."
###

Article: "The Benefit of Induction Chemotherapy in Patients Age > 75 years: A Retrospective Study of 110 Patients from a Single Institution," N. Vey, D. Coso, V.J. Bardou, A.M. Stoppa, A.C. Braud, R. Bouabdallah, D. Sainty, M.J. Moziconacci, M. Lafage, G. Damaj, D. Blaise, J.A. Gastaut, and D. Maraninchi, CANCER; Published Online: June 7, 2004 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20353); Print Issue Date: July 15, 2004.

Bioenvision's Clofarabine Data Presented at Europe's Top Hematology Congress; Encouraging Efficacy Reported across a Range of Hematological Malignancies

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 2004--The encouraging efficacy of Bioenvision's (AMEX:BIV) clofarabine across a range of hematological malignancies, including response rates as high as 64%, has been positively reviewed by world-leading hematologists in sessions at the 9th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA).

The scope of clofarabine as a potential mainstay of future treatment was a focal point during a symposium led by specialists from the internationally recognized MD Anderson Cancer Research Centre, Houston, discussing latest approaches to the management of acute and chronic hematological malignancies.

Opening the sessions, Susan O'Brien M.D, of the MD Anderson's Department of Hematology presented, for the first time in Europe, interim data from ongoing phase II multicentre trials evaluating clofarabine in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Dr O'Brien referred to data from 49 patients with refractory or relapsed ALL, where an overall response rate of 31% had been observed.

Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the MD Anderson's Department of Leukemia, continued the clofarabine overview by citing results presented this month at the 40th American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting (ASCO), New Orleans, documenting an overall response rate for adult patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received clofarabine in combination with ara-C (cytarabine), of 60%. Professor Kantarjian also drew attention to data on file, from adults with first relapsed and primary refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), who also demonstrated an overall response rate of 41% in combination therapy.

Delegates also heard a presentation from Professor William Plunkett, also at the M.D. Anderson, who outlined the favourable pharmacokinetic profile of clofarabine, and explained the basis for the compound's documented efficacy.

Professor Alan Burnett of the UK National Cancer Research Institute, Hematological Oncology Study Group, presented at a wider plenary session at the EHA, the interim results of clofarabine in older patients with AML, who were unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy. A complete response rate of 64% was achieved in these patients after just one course of clofarabine monotherapy.

Dr Chris Wood, CEO of Bioenvision, summarised responses and feedback from physicians attending the meeting. He said:

"The fact that clofarabine registers so strongly on the radar screens of some of the world's leading physicians is testament to the data which is already available and how this could translate into more effective treatment options for seriously ill patients. We are particularly excited about the versatility of clofarabine and efficacy seen in children and adults across a range of hematological malignancies.

About Clofarabine

Clofarabine is a next-generation purine nucleoside antimetabolite. Nucleoside analogues are antimetabolites that affect DNA synthesis. Clofarabine was rationally designed to combine many of the favorable properties of the two most commonly used nucleoside analogs, fludarabine and cladribine, but is reported to have greater potency at damaging the DNA of Leukemia cells than these other agents. (Blood, "Mitochondrial Toxicity of Deoxyadenoside Analogs", November 15, 2000, Volume 96, Number 10).

Bioenvision is the exclusive worldwide developer of clofarabine, except for U.S. / Canadian cancer applications which Bioenvision sublicensed to ILEX Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ILXO). Bioenvision originally obtained its clofarabine development and commercialization rights under patents held by Southern Research Institute. ILEX recently completed the New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clofarabine for the treatment of refractory or relapsed acute leukemia in children.

About Bioenvision

Bioenvision's (Amex:BIV) primary focus is the development and distribution of compounds and technologies for the treatment of cancer. Bioenvision has a broad pipeline of products for the treatment of cancer, including: clofarabine (in co-development with ILEX Oncology, Inc.), Modrenal(R) (for which Bioenvision has obtained regulatory approval for marketing in the United Kingdom for the treatment of post-menopausal breast cancer following relapse to initial hormone therapy), and other products in clinical trials. Bioenvision is also developing anti-infective technologies, including the OLIGON technology; an advanced biomaterial that has been incorporated into various FDA approved medical devices. For more information on Bioenvision please visit our Web site at www.bioenvision.com.

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Because these statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Specifically, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: risks associated with preclinical and clinical developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in general and in Bioenvision's compounds under development in particular; the potential failure of Bioenvision's compounds under development to prove safe and effective for treatment of disease; uncertainties inherent in the early stage of Bioenvision's compounds under development; failure to successfully implement or complete clinical trials; failure to receive marketing clearance from regulatory agencies for our compounds under development; acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, licenses or strategic initiatives that change Bioenvision's business, structure or projections; the development of competing products; uncertainties related to Bioenvision's dependence on third parties and partners; and those risks described in Bioenvision's filings with the SEC. Bioenvision disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Combination of TRISENOX(R), Vitamin C and Low-Dose Melphalan Produces 54 Percent Objective Response Rate in Late-Stage Multiple Myeloma Patients

Preliminary Phase II TRISENOX Data Presented at International Conference

GENEVA, June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At the 9th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) preliminary data were presented from a multicenter, phase II study of TRISENOX® (arsenic trioxide) in a combination regimen known as MAC (melphalan, TRISENOX and vitamin C) in heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients who had either relapsed or failed to respond to standard and/or investigational therapies.

Preliminary analysis of this ongoing study, led by James Berenson, M.D. of the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Marrow Cancer Research, showed that the TRISENOX-combination produced disease responses in seven of the 13 evaluable patients (54 percent). Three additional patients achieved stable disease for an overall disease control rate of 77 percent. These patients had failed multiple prior therapies including stem cell transplant (6), bortezomib (2), thalidomide or revlimid (9) or prior melphalan (7). Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (Nasdaq: CTIC; Nuovo Mercato) markets TRISENOX in the United States and Europe.

The objectives of the study are to determine the response rate to MAC and the time to disease progression in addition to testing the safety and tolerability of the combination. Patients receive melphalan (0.1 mg/kg) daily for the first four days of each six-week cycle. TRISENOX (0.25 mg/kg) is administered in a loading dose (daily x 4), followed by vitamin C (1 gram) on a twice weekly schedule for the next four weeks of each cycle, with a maximum of six cycles of treatment. To date, the regimen has been well tolerated with mild and reversible cytopenias and fluid retention that was relieved by diuretics and/or steroids. There are currently 25 patients on the study which will continue to accrue to a target enrollment of 60 evaluable patients.

About TRISENOX®

TRISENOX® (arsenic trioxide) is marketed by Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI). TRISENOX® was approved for marketing in 2000 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with relapsed or refractory Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL), a rare, life-threatening form of cancer of the blood. TRISENOX® was granted marketing authorization from the European Commission in March 2002. APL, one of eight subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), represents 10-15 percent of the more than 20,000 patients diagnosed with AML each year. TRISENOX® is currently being studied in more than 40 clinical trials in a variety of cancers.

U.S. marketing approval for TRISENOX® was granted based on results from a U.S. multicenter study in which 40 relapsed APL patients were treated with TRISENOX® 0.15 mg/kg until bone marrow remission or a maximum of 60 days. Thirty-four patients (85 percent) achieved CR. When the results for these 40 patients were combined with those for the 12 patients in a pilot trial, an overall response rate of 87 percent was observed.

WARNING: TRISENOX® should be administered under the supervision of a physician who is experienced in the management of patients with acute leukemia. Some patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) treated with TRISENOX® have experienced APL differentiation syndrome -- with symptoms similar to retinoic acid-acute promyelocytic leukemia (RA-APL) syndrome. Arsenic trioxide can cause QT prolongation (which can lead to torsade de pointes) and complete atrioventricular block.

The most common adverse events associated with TRISENOX® have been generally manageable, reversible and usually did not require interruption of therapy. These have included hypokalemia, hypermagnesemia, hyperglycemia and thrombocytopenia as reported in 13 percent of the patients (n=40). Abdominal pain, dyspnea, hypoxia, bone pain and neutropenia were reported in 10 percent of these patients, while arthralgia, febrile neutropenia and disseminated intravascular coagulation were reported in eight percent of patients.

About Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Headquartered in Seattle, CTI is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing an integrated portfolio of oncology products aimed at making cancer more treatable. For additional information and a copy of the prescribing information for TRISENOX®, please visit www.cticseattle.com.

Former Cancer Patient Debuts Video Game
06.30.2004, 03:17 AM

Ben Duskin has helped turn fighting cancer into a game. When the 9-year-old former leukemia patient was asked if he had an unrequited wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ben requested a video game be made that fellow cancer sufferers could play to take their mind of the painful side effects of chemotherapy.

"I really like video games," Duskin said Tuesday. "And I wanted to do something special, something more than going on a Disney cruise and stuff like that."

Enter Eric Johnston, a software engineer for LucasArts who helped create such games as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Loom" and "The Secret of Monkey Island."

Johnston agreed to volunteer his time to help Ben achieve his wish. Johnston persuaded his bosses to donate LucasArts facilities after hours and met with Ben once a week for six months as they developed "Ben's Game."

The game's central character, modeled after Ben, zooms around the screen on a skateboard, zapping mutated cells and collecting seven shields to protect against common side effects of chemotherapy, which include nausea, hair loss and fevers.

"We spent a long time discussing what he wanted this game to look like," Johnston said at the game's unveiling at the University of California, San Francisco Pediatric Treatment Center. "This is his game."

Duskin's leukemia is in remission and he is on summer break between fourth and fifth grades. UCSF officials said "Ben's Game" is now a staple in the children's chemotherapy ward.

"I feel really good in my heart that lots of people are playing it," Ben said.

New Drug Treatments Offer Hope to Leukemia Patients

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDayNews) -- Scientists call them "molecularly targeted" drugs, and they represent a remarkable gain in the war against blood cancers.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are some of the rarest yet most deadly forms of cancer. They account for only 2 percent to 3 percent of all cancers, but cause 10 percent of all cancer deaths, said Alan Kinniburgh, vice president of research for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

These so-called "liquid cancers" cannot be surgically removed and up until recently have been treated with radiation and chemotherapy.

But promising new therapies all involve "molecularly targeted" drugs that disrupt the spread of cancer by honing in on specific mechanical processes that cancer cells to grow.

These breakthrough treatments merit attention in September, which is Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness Month.

Kinniburgh foresees a day when these new drugs will work together to halt blood cancers, "all hitting the same target, but hitting the target in different ways so the target can't escape being killed."

An estimated 106,000 Americans were diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma last year, according to estimates by the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites). Another 57,500 people died from one of the diseases.

The diseases each begin with one damaged cell that turns cancerous, explained Hildy Dillon, vice president of patient services for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"They are usually the result of an acquired genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which then becomes malignant and starts to reproduce," Dillon said.

The blood cancers interfere with the production of healthy blood cells, Dillon said.

If red blood cells are affected, the person initially suffers from anemia and fatigue. If white blood cells are stricken, the patient initially suffers a high risk of infection. And since the cancers affect blood's ability to clot, patients also suffer unexplained bruises.

If left untreated -- or detected too late -- the blood cancers will kill.

The biggest recent leukemia breakthrough involved the drug Gleevec, which inhibits an enzyme that pushes cells to reproduce uncontrollably. The drug, which gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) approval in 2001, has been stunningly successful in treating people with chronic myeloid leukemia, often returning patients' blood cell counts to near normal within three or four weeks.

Building on the success of Gleevec are three other new therapies that hold promise, Kinniburgh said.

The first involves clofarabine, a drug that disrupts DNA replication in cancer cells. The drug has been found in clinical trials to put about one-quarter of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients into remission when other treatments have failed, Kinniburgh said.

"That provides extra time for a patient to undergo a bone marrow or stem-cell transplant," he said. "That's going to save children's lives." The drug is awaiting FDA (news - web sites) approval.

Another set of drugs undergoing clinical trials are FLT-3 inhibitors, which can disrupt cellular communications that spur cancer growth. Again, about one-quarter of patients with acute myeloid leukemia respond to the drugs, but those who do respond show an 80 percent to 90 percent reduction of cancer cells in the blood, Kinniburgh said.

The third drug, which Kinniburgh calls "Son of Gleevec," is an ABL-kinase inhibitor that targets cancer cell mutations that escape treatment with Gleevec. The drug, BMS-354825, is being tested in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia whose bodies are resistant to Gleevec.

Doctors generally don't know what causes blood cancers. Benzene, smoking, radiation and the Epstein-Barr virus have all been linked to the diseases, but most of the time physicians have no idea why a specific person has contracted a blood cancer.

"Most often, there really isn't a known cause," Dillon said. "These are not diseases that can be prevented."

There also are multiple types of each of the diseases, which can make it tough for doctors to know how to proceed, Dillon said.

"The challenge is to determine the type of blood cancer a person has because the treatments are designed very specifically," she said. "They're beginning to be able to really target the specific mechanics of each of these different types of cancer.

Leukemia involves cancer of the bone marrow and blood cells, and strikes about 30,600 Americans each year. Another 21,900 die from the disease annually.

Lymphomas are malignancies of the lymphocites, a type of white blood cell. This is the most common blood cancer, afflicting 61,000 people a year and killing 24,700.

Myeloma affects the plasma cells, or white blood cells found primarily in the bone marrow. About 14,600 people are diagnosed with this disease each year, and another 10,900 die.

Leukemia has a five-year survival rate of 44 percent. Lymphoma has a 52 percent survival rate, and myeloma has a 28 percent survival rate.

Kinniburgh said all of the new drug treatments could ultimately be used in concert to specifically target different blood cancers, no matter how rare or obscure.

"With several of these agents hitting each other's cross-resistance, it's certainly very likely we may be able to treat all patients without radiation or chemotherapy," he said. "At some point the goal and the dream would be the drugs could be withdrawn from the patients and they would go on in remission."

More information

To learn more about blood cancers, visit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

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