GLG News by Oncologists Specializing in Hematologic Malignancies in the U.S.

Long term results from the Landmark Phase III study show that Temodar extended long term overall survival ( schering Plough) when added to radiation in newly diagnosed patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme. The survival advantage was modest but definite. GBM remians highly fatal disaese and the future...

Coley Pharamceutics has enterd in collaboration with Pfizer and several other Big Pharma companies to test several of its " TLR Therapeutics' compounds in several cancer types. Most of these trials are in early clinical or pre-clinical phases. These compounds are form of immunomodulator drugs or cancer...

Trials of Telik were halted by the FDA in June 2007 after patients receiving the agent in an ovarian cancer trial were found to have ahigher death rate than those that did not receive Telik.  The current decision allows Telik trials to resume, but efficacy is still in question.

Genentech's Avastin , when combined with Irinotecan ( Pharamcia Upjohn) produced quite impressive 6-months survival ( 77 %) and PFS ( 46 %) in a small group pf patients with recurrent GBM, a usually highly fatal disaese. Role of Avastin would be in combination with the only approved agent (...

New therapies are needed for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.  Surgery, radiation and temozolamide remain the mainstay of treatment.  Results from the current pilot study suggest that Avastin may have efficacy in GBM.

MT-103 is an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody that has demonstrated clinical activity in phase I trials in patients with NHL.  The proposed phase II trial in ALL will assess whether MT103 can remove residual tumor cells and thereby convert patients from a MRD (minimal residual disease)- positive to...

Ixabepilone (Ixempra) is an epithelone drug that showed impressive efficcacy and safetyin patients with refractory adavanced breast cancer who have failed Taxanes, anthracyclines and xeloda. It will be used as third line agent and in some acses in second line with Xeloda ( Roche) Several similar agents...

The AGENDA trial is designed to determine whether the addition of Gensense to DTIC can impprove outcomes for melanoma patients as compared with DTIC alone.

Genta's agenda trial is trying to confirm previous findings that genasense may have increased efficacy when added to DTIC in a subset of patients with advanced melanoma with low LDH Even if trial shows efficacy, DTIC is not the currently widely used regimen for these patiens and several other strategies...

Threshold's Glufosfamide failed to show single agent activity in patients with recurrent small lung acncer; the Phase II trial was halted early since only 1 of 21 patients had a partial response. Further development of this agent for this disease is very hard to justify given the pretty low efficac