Celgene Drug Shows Long-Term Benefit for Blood Cancer

Celgene has said its cancer drug Revlimid has demonstrated positive results against an incurable blood cancer known as myelodysplastic syndromes in a phase III trial.

This breakthrough data showed that in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients with chromosome 5q deletion treatment, Revlimid can provide long-term durable results and help them to remain transfusion free.

MDS is a cancer in which the bone marrow fails to make enough functioning blood cells and patients need whole-body blood transfusions as much as twice a month. Repeated transfusions can lead to a toxic buildup called “iron overload” that severely damages the heart, liver and pancreas, and patients eventually succumb to the disease.

The data presented showed that two-thirds of patients who received Revlimid were completely freed from the need for blood transfusions. More significantly, in 44% of patients, there was no detectable trace of the cancer.

Additional research has evaluated Revlimid in MDS not associated with a chromosome 5q abnormality. In this phase II trial, nearly one-third of Revlimid patients remained blood transfusion free for a median duration of 41 weeks.

These data results demonstrate that Revlimid can provide long-term clinical benefit in MDS patients with or without the chromosome 5q abnormality and dramatically help improve their quality of life.