Everything indicates that some of the patients suffering from leukemia, which were still fatal until recently, will be cured soon.
Until recently, chronic myeloid leukemia killed patients. As a result of research conducted over the last several decades, it has been possible to transform a fatal disease into a chronic disease. However, this is not the end of successes. A study by French doctors found that some patients who have stopped taking their medications will not have to take them again.
Insidious disease
Chronic myeloid leukemia is phased. The first stage takes about 3-4 years. Most often, the patient does not feel any ailments. Cancer may be manifested by fatigue or weakness, night sweats, and more frequent infections. Appetite also deteriorates and body weight decreases. The spleen also enlarges, which is felt as a feeling of overflow in the stomach. In the next phase, the production of abnormal cells is accelerated. The only method that allows for a complete recovery is bone marrow transplantation. However, it is not always possible to find it. In addition, the condition is good health of the patient, because the procedure carries a high risk of complications. – Even 10 years ago, when the patients were treated only with simple chemotherapeutic drugs, after 3-4 years the disease exacerbated, and then there was no rescue for the patient. Therefore, they lived on average 4-5 years – says prof. Andrzej Hellmann, head of the Department and Clinic of Hematology and Transplantology at the Medical University of Gdańsk. Then came the life-extending drugs.
A breakthrough discovery
Imatinib was the first effective agent to block the effect of the genetic alteration underlying chronic myeloid leukemia. Patients could live longer if they took the drug. Then, other pharmaceuticals appeared that are more effective in eliminating tumor cells and allow faster and more patients to obtain the so-called therapeutic effect. – Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, who previously died on average after three years, and then after five years, suddenly got the chance to live 20 or more years, provided that they would take one pill a day for their entire life – says Prof. Wiesław Jędrzejczak from the Department and Clinic of Hematology, Oncology and Internal Diseases at the Medical University of Warsaw. As early as 2007, 100 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia were discontinued imatinib for the first time. The research shows that after 7 years, 40 percent. of them there are no relapses. You need to know that as much as 98 percent. relapse occurs in the first six months. In a pilot study in which newer equivalents of imatinib were discontinued, 61% of patients had no relapses. patients. Currently, clinical trials are conducted around the world to confirm whether it is possible to stop taking drugs completely.
Research is ongoing
As emphasized by specialists, drug discontinuation can be considered in patients who achieved a good therapeutic effect lasting 24 months. Dr. Tomasz Sacha from the Department and Clinic of Hematology at Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow estimates that currently at 2 patients treated with these drugs in Poland, 200 patients are candidates for treatment discontinuation. They must have their blood tested regularly in certified laboratories. Thanks to this, it will be possible to detect a relapse very early and restore the discontinued treatment. In Poland, research will be conducted in Chorzów, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Łódź, Lublin, Olsztyn, Opole, Toruń, Warsaw and Wrocław. – Their results will be known in a few years. If it turns out that it is possible to safely discontinue treatment in at least some patients, it will be another significant therapeutic progress, says Dr. Sacha. – In addition to patients, the health care system will also benefit, as it could offset the costs associated with treating the disease, if the length of therapy in a certain group of patients, instead of lasting decades, would be safely and effectively limited to several years – believes Prof. Wiesław Jędrzejczak.
Tekst: Halina of Pilon
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