The new drug, which has recently been approved for use in the treatment of multiple myeloma, may also be a chance for patients with central nervous system lymphoma (CNSL) – a rare tumor of the immune system, extremely malignant and with a very poor prognosis.
Tests are currently underway to confirm its effectiveness in fighting this disease.
Central nervous system lymphoma is very rare, usually in people over 60 years of age. Patients’ prognosis is poor – the average survival time is 18-48 months. The neoplasm gives little characteristic symptoms, often confused with other diseases: visual disturbances, headaches, weakness, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, sensory disturbances, behavioral disturbances, sensorimotor disorders and low back pain. Each year, approximately 5 people with CNSL are diagnosed in the United States.
Researchers at three Mayo Clinic sites (in Florida, Minnesota and Arizona) set out to see if a new drug – pomalidomide – which is working well in the treatment of multiple myeloma, could also be effective against CNSL lymphoma. The first tests carried out on mouse models turned out to be positive.
“We believe that pomalidomide may be effective in CNSL patients because it has two important properties that most other anti-cancer drugs lack: it penetrates perfectly into the brain, which is essential in treating tumors of this organ, and it affects not only lymphoma cells but also to the entire tumor microenvironment, ”explains study co-author Dr. Han Tun of the Mayo Clinic in Florida.
He adds that pre-clinical trials with pomalidomide are very promising. “Pomalidomide treatment of the mouse lymphoma patients significantly improved their survival and suppressed tumor growth,” he says. ‘The first phase of clinical trials is now underway, based on these results.’
Pomalidomide belongs to a group of medicines called immunomodulators. It is a derivative of a known agent – thalidomide. It was approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma in February 2013, but scientists hope it will prove effective for other hematopoietic cancers as well (PAP).
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