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| Drug hope for leukaemia patients after Cardiff trial | Drug hope for leukaemia patients after Cardiff trial |
| (3 days later) | |
| A drug trialled by doctors in Cardiff could prolong the life of patients with the most common adult leukaemia. | A drug trialled by doctors in Cardiff could prolong the life of patients with the most common adult leukaemia. |
| The drug, GA101, has been given with chemotherapy to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and other conditions. | The drug, GA101, has been given with chemotherapy to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and other conditions. |
| Study leader Prof Chris Fegan called the results "exciting", with the blood cancer eventually being kept at bay. | Study leader Prof Chris Fegan called the results "exciting", with the blood cancer eventually being kept at bay. |
| "People will eventually not die of this disease, but die with it," he said. | "People will eventually not die of this disease, but die with it," he said. |
| The professor of haematology at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff has been leading the five-year trial in the UK. Research has also been carried out in Europe. | |
| He said GA101 was a new antibody which had proved more successful than any others and meant doctors would be able to treat CLL with agents other than chemotherapy. | He said GA101 was a new antibody which had proved more successful than any others and meant doctors would be able to treat CLL with agents other than chemotherapy. |
| CLL is a form of blood cancer which affects the body's white blood cells which play an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system and fighting off infection. | CLL is a form of blood cancer which affects the body's white blood cells which play an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system and fighting off infection. |
| In people with CLL the cells become faulty and start to grow and multiply at a faster rate than the healthy cells, eventually outnumbering them and preventing them from working normally. | In people with CLL the cells become faulty and start to grow and multiply at a faster rate than the healthy cells, eventually outnumbering them and preventing them from working normally. |
| The average age of patients with this form of cancer is 70. | The average age of patients with this form of cancer is 70. |
| Prof Fegan said: "One of the key challenges we face in CLL is that so many patients are over the age of 60 and suffer from significant co-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, which makes them unfit to receive the most aggressive treatments." | Prof Fegan said: "One of the key challenges we face in CLL is that so many patients are over the age of 60 and suffer from significant co-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, which makes them unfit to receive the most aggressive treatments." |
| He said that in the past this had a significant impact on outcomes. | He said that in the past this had a significant impact on outcomes. |
| But treating patients with the trial drug and chemotherapy "offers a tolerable combination that can offer a real survival benefit and longer remission times", added Prof Fegan. | But treating patients with the trial drug and chemotherapy "offers a tolerable combination that can offer a real survival benefit and longer remission times", added Prof Fegan. |
| GA101 is is not currently licensed in the UK and is only available through clinical trials. | GA101 is is not currently licensed in the UK and is only available through clinical trials. |
| But Prof Fegan said he expected it would be licensed both in the US and Europe in the next few months. | But Prof Fegan said he expected it would be licensed both in the US and Europe in the next few months. |