Revlimid – anyone heard of this?

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• May 16, 2005 at 7:19 pm #6281
  covergirl

  Member

  Forgive me if you have already discussed this, but check out this article regarding Revlimid by Celgene Corp.
  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/C…-05-16-12-47-04

  May 16, 2005 at 7:44 pm #6282
  doreen

  Member

  Hello. I could not get to your page. But I just was sent the article also. I am assuming it is
  the same one.

  Drug’s Effect on Cancer Stuns Doctors

  By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
  AP Medical Writer
  Published May 16, 2005, 9:06 AM CDT

  ORLANDO, Fla. — No one could have been more surprised than the doctors themselves. They were just hoping to relieve the symptoms of a deadly blood disorder — and ended up treating the disease itself. In nearly half of the people who took the experimental drug, the cancer became undetectable.

  Specialists said Revlimid now looks like a breakthrough and the first effective treatment for many people with myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, which is even more common than leukemia.

  “It may be, if not eradicating the disease, putting it into what I would call deep remission,” said Dr. David Johnson, a cancer specialist at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center who is familiar with but had no role in the research.

  Revlimid “is not yet on the market but almost certainly will be” because of these findings, he said.

  MDS refers to a group of disorders caused by the bone marrow not making enough healthy, mature blood cells. About 15,000 to 20,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States, and as many as 50,000 Americans have it now. They usually suffer anemia and fatigue and need blood transfusions about every eight weeks to stay alive.

  “It’s a serious problem, it tends to occur in older people, and it’s fatal for most,” said Dr. Herman Kattlove, a blood disorder specialist at the American Cancer Society.

  Revlimid is similar to thalidomide, a drug notorious for the birth defects it caused decades ago but that in recent years has proved effective against another blood cancer, multiple myeloma. Researchers don’t really know how it works other than that it boosts the immune system in a number of ways.

  In small studies, Revlimid also showed promise and with far fewer side effects. In a new study, doctors tested it on 115 people with MDS who have the most common chromosome abnormality that causes the disease.

  After about six months on the drug, 66 percent no longer needed blood transfusions, said the study’s leader, Dr. Alan List of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. A year later, three-fourths of them still don’t need transfusions.

  But the big surprise was that signs of the genetic mutation fueling the disease diminished in 81 patients and vanished in 51.

  “The chromosome abnormality completely disappeared, something we’ve never seen before” from a drug aimed just at boosting red blood cells, List said.

  Dr. Bruce Johnson of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston compared it with what doctors saw in early tests of the drug Gleevec on people with chronic myelogenous leukemia several years ago.

  “If you extrapolate what they saw, it’s one of the signs for long remission,” he said of the abnormality’s disappearance.

  Dr. Jasmine Zain, a blood specialist from the City of Hope Cancer Center in New York, said the results warrant further testing on the drug.

  “Nowhere do you see 60 to 70 percent responses,” she said.

  About one-third of people on the drug had temporary drops in other blood cells and clotting components, fixed by briefly interrupting treatment or lowering the dose.

  The study was sponsored by Celgene Corp., which makes Revlimid. List is a consultant for the company and reported results Sunday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.

  In other news at the conference:

  * A five-year study of cancer care in America concluded that most people get good care but that quality differs from region to region.

  The oncology society commissioned the study by Harvard University and the RAND Corporation after a 2000 Institute of Medicine report said that not all Americans were getting good cancer care and that this seemed to be a substantial problem.

  continue >>

  May 16, 2005 at 7:56 pm #6283
  covergirl

  Member

  Doreen,
  Yes, this is the same article. My cousin is a phara rep and is down there researching for me now in addition to her working of course.

  May 16, 2005 at 8:02 pm #6284
  sarah

  Member

  I have recieved numerous calls from family and friends today about this article. Sounds promising. Please, anyone who has tried this how is it working for you?

  May 17, 2005 at 3:12 pm #6285
  Vasilios2

  Member

  hi, I do have a Question on Revlimid. Obviously it looks very interesting and as a light at the end of the tunnel, but will it only work for people with -5q abnormality? Will they alos give it to others?
  Hope they do give it to all. if you know please let me know

  ————————-
  father Christos (78) diagnosed with MDS multilineage cytopenia no chromosome abnormalities, no tx yet doing well in Greece followed by a center of excellence

  May 17, 2005 at 5:26 pm #6286
  Lolam

  Member

  I am waiting for a transplant. I wonder if this revlimid would eliminate that need. I surely wish it would. I have secondary MDS and moving steadily to AML . Rev. is not on the market yet so I suppose it would not be an option in my case.

  May 17, 2005 at 8:05 pm #6287
  frank

  Participant

  i heard from one of my doctor that it did have 30% responce(improvement) for not -5q abnormal(his lab joined the trial), just don’t know for the secondary, and the drug will be out at end of this year…

  Hope it is true.

  Frank

  May 17, 2005 at 8:11 pm #6288
  Carrie

  Member

  Maybe some of us can get it for “compassionate use”?

  May 18, 2005 at 2:54 am #6289
  Laural

  Member

  As far as I know, the drug is not being given on a compassionate use basis at this time. Hopefully it can get quick approval for treatment of MDS to add another drug to the treatment potentials. I was on a trial of Revimid. It worked very well (I have secondary MDS) but I did have to stop as it effected my platelets and good white cells after a few months. It helped me get transfusion independent and so far, I have remained transfusion independent even though not on the drug. Although I am not in remission, the blast cells have stayed very low and show no signs of increasing to this time. It has been great to be free of transfusions and I think it has given my body time to repair and to fight the blast cells better.

  May 18, 2005 at 11:56 am #6290
  Suzanne

  Member

  Wow, If it can do that let’s all hope for quick approval. I will ask the satus of it at my Dr. appointment Friday if I have a chance.

  May 18, 2005 at 1:17 pm #6291
  Carrie

  Member

  I’m with you, Suzanne… if it works like that for Laura, I’ve got hope!!!

  May 18, 2005 at 2:46 pm #6292
  Suzanne

  Member

  It is my understanding that when a drug is submitted for approval, all trials are closed to compile statistics for the submission and you can’t get it for that use until it comes out approved. I believe that also happened with Vidaza during the approval process and it is true of the use of Zarnestra that is submitted. There are trials open with Zarnestra as a mainteneance drug and zarnestra combined with another drug as a chemo.

  May 18, 2005 at 5:22 pm #6293
  sgoodman

  Member

  I tried Revlimid in a trial with the Mayo Clinic and it started to help towrds the end of the 3 month trial, but the trial protocal required that I be taken off the trial. The side effects were fairly mild for me. It is my understanding that it is used for any MDS, whether 5q or not (I am not 5q), but the dramatic results discussed in the article occurred only with the 5q group. I am now on Thalidomid, but is the parent drug of Revlimid and it is working a little.

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