4 replies to this topic

[CallMeLucky]

I found these two articles today that were supposedly just released.  I don't know if this is an error or if I am missing something but this research sounds a few years late.

http://www.privatehe...ccessful-36666/

http://www.doctorslo...p/news/pb/27048

The first article is titled "Imatinib trials prove successful"

The second one states that patients who take Imatinib after failing Interferon can take Imatinib and 68% will have up to 10 year survival.

It is odd because the study is from MD Anderson.  I have to assume someone screwed up and press released an old study.  The date on the articles are 2/27/2012 and 2/28/2012.

I have to believe this is wrong when one article states that patients who are unresponsive to conventional therapies can get Imatinib in the future and doctors warn that despite the success, little is known about the drug.

Weird huh?  Makes you think about how just a short time ago Imatinib was this new unknown that was going to help people where as today it is just the standard treatment......

[ChrisC]

You get an "A" for being alert! Makes you wonder, indeed, if there is something behind the release of these old studies, as in someone wants to quote from them and needs the articles to be recent?

[Happycat]

I would chalk it up to a failure to check sources for whoever wrote the newsletter pieces. I actually went to the Cancer journal website one of them mentions and did not see an article relevant to imatinib. I only checked the last two issues, though.

I think for some of these web publications, writers troll the web, find something to stick in there, but never realize they found something that was 10 yrs old! 

Traci

[PhoenixPat]

Hi all-

Yes, this was confusing, but it is new report on a long-term study. Basically there are thousands of patients in the US who were initially treated with interferon and then switched to Gleevec, and previous studies showed they would likely do well in the short term. The long term outcome was less clear and this study measured that. Of course what we see as "long-term" and what the medical community views as "long-term" are often very different. :-)

Here's a link to the article published online in Cancer on Feb 27, "Very long-term follow-up results  of imatinib mesylate therapy in chronic phase myeloid leukeumia after failure of interferon alpha therapy" http://onlinelibrary....26568/abstract

This article tries to put the data into current context, but it could be much more clearly explained.  http://www.medscape....warticle/759251

Hope that helps!

Pat

[Susan61]

Hi:  I did do the Interferon when first diagnosed, and they also included Ara-C Shots every other week along with the Interferon.  Made me deathly sick, but then I went onto the Gleevec.  Going on year #12 now with my Gleevec, so I feel you can only predict the longevity of these things.  I have no idea if being on the Interferon first really helped.  I only did it for 3 months before it started destroying my liver, then I was on Hydrea for  5 months before I got onto the clinical trial in N.Y. for the Gleevec.