Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 12:32 pm
Psst, Dahli, take a look at paragraph 7, in particular . . . Source: Ivanhoe.com Reported November 15, 2006 Leukemia Breakthrough BUFFALO, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Every year, more than 10,000 Americans are diagnosed with a specific type of cancer, called chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This leukemia is tough to get rid of and when patients become resistant to the treatments offered, there's not much left doctors can do. Norman Zobel has been carving wood for 20 years. "I can sit and wood carve, and I can think about the things I want to do," he says. "It kind of clears my mind to think about the things that I have to do." Zobel's needed the escape. Seven years ago, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He says, "It was very traumatic. The first thing I asked him is, 'How long have I got? How long will I live?'" The answer is changing right before Zobel's eyes. Asher Chanan-Khan, M.D., a hematologist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., enrolled Zobel in a study on a new drug called lenalidomide. "This particular drug is an oral drug. It's not chemotherapy," Dr. Chanan-Khan tells Ivanhoe. "It's not associated with any nausea, vomiting, loss of hair." Lenalidomide has mild side effects and is a powerful player against leukemia that has grown resistant to other therapies. He says with the first dose, patients started to respond. The drug changes the environment around cancer cells, making it tough for the cells to survive. It was effective in nearly half of people who had run out of treatment options. Lenalidomide is already FDA approved for the treatment of another cancer called multiple myeloma. It is currently in trials for chronic lymphocytic leukemia as well as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the leukemia study, patients continue to take the drug every day until the cancer is no longer detected in their blood. "We have several patients now in whom we cannot detect cancer anymore," Dr. Chanan-Khan says. Zobel is one of them. "When the doctor comes up to you and says, 'Yeah, you are in complete remission and you are safe from the problem you've had,' it's hard to put into words," he says. Now, with his wife by his side, Zobel is finally looking forward to his future. If you would like more information, please contact: Deborah Pettibone Roswell Park Cancer Institute Elm & Carlton Streets Buffalo, NY 14263 (716) 845-8593
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