A prototype method of treating infants with a form of leukaemia boosts their chances of survival compared with the standard drug regimen, according to a paper published in next Saturday's Lancet.
A prototype method of treating infants with a form of leukaemia boosts their chances of survival compared with the standard drug regimen, according to a paper published in next Saturday's Lancet.
In general, children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia have a good chance of survival -- about 80 percent today, compared with only 10 percent 40 years ago.But this success rate drops significantly in infants aged under 12 months, where it falls to a range of 17-45 percent.
Dutch doctors carried out a study of 482 infants from 22 countries who were aged under one year and had been diagnosed with the disease.
In addition to the standard drug for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia -- a treatment called Prednisone -- the children were given tiny doses of drugs usually designed for treating a related form of cancer, acute myeloid leukaemia.
The key ingredient was Cytabarine, which in lab-dish tests have been shown to be highly effective against lymphoblasts, as immature lymphocyte cells are called.
At the 38-month followup mark, 260 (58 percent) of the patients who received this "hybrid" treatment were in complete remission.
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Institute of Cancer Research doctors in Britain found that fludarabine (marketed as Fludara) and chlorambucil (Leukeran), when used together, were no better than fludarabine alone or chorambucil alone in boosting a patient's chance of survival five years after treatment.
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Source-AFP
SRM/C