Drug Keeps Leukemia at Bay Longer Than Standard Treatment

Using the drug fludarabine as the first line of defense keeps chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at bay longer than standard treatment, but it does not affect overall survival, according to a study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. CLL is the most common form of leukemia in adults, striking about 8,100 people in the United States each year.

Researchers at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York found that five times as many patients had complete remissions when they were given fludarabine, compared with the patients who took chlorambucil, the standard treatment. But even in the fludarabine group, 43% had only a partial response to the drug and 37% had virtually no response at all.

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--Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II