Bendamustine effective for some B-cell patients

Source: medadnews.com

STUDY

Results from a study published in the journal Cancer suggest that patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (iNHL) are responding well to Bendamustine, a chemo drug generally used to treat chronic lymphocytocic leukemia and some NHLs.

LEAD STUDY AUTHOR

Professor Brad S. Kahl of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Maddison, USA

PATIENTS

100 patients aged 31-84 years with indolent NHL who had undergone an average of two chemotherapies prior to enrolment and all were rituximab-refractory.

DRUG AND REGIMEN

Drug: Bendamustine, a nitrogen mustard anticancer alkylating agent.
Regimen: The patients received intravenous infusions over 60-120 minutes, of bendamustine 120mg/m2 on days one and two every 21 days, for six to eight cycles.

RESULTS

Overall response rate (ORR): 75%
Complete response: 14%
Unconfirmed complete response: 3%
Partial response: 58%

ADVERSE EVENTS (SIDE EFFECTS)

Grade III or IV reversible haematological toxicities included:
-- Neutropenia (61%)
-- Thrombocytopenia (25%)
-- Anaemia (10%).

The most frequent non-haematological adverse events (any grade) included:
-- Nausea (77%)
-- Infection (69%)
-- Fatigue (64%)
-- Diarrhoea (42%)
-- Vomiting (40%)
-- Pyrexia (36%)
-- Constipation (31%)
-- Anorexia (24%).

CONCLUSION

Two of every three patients who had become rituximab-refractory responded well to the Bendamustine, and that's a good sign since rituximab immunotherapy is cutting edge stuff.

In one sense it's good to see there's another treatment option for B-cell patients whose lymphomas have become daity-refractory, but by and large this looks like little more than the pharmaceutical company's efforts to get their drugs approved for as many maladies as possible, since this iinevitably means more profits.