Gleevec News and Research

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Gleevec is a drug used to treat different types of leukemia and other cancers of the blood, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, skin tumors called dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, and a rare condition called systemic mastocytosis. It is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Gleevec blocks the protein made by the bcr/abl oncogene. It is a type of tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Also called imatinib mesylate and STI571.

Plant extract forskolin may lead to leukemia treatment

Scientists here have identified a new pathway in the progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). They also discovered that an extract from the root of a common ornamental plant can suppress the process.

20 Nov 2005

Gene fusion appears to cause prostate cancer

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, have discovered a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes and abnormal gene activity that occurs only in prostate cancer.

30 Oct 2005

Gleevec's uses might expand even further

Gleevec (Imatinib) is a representative of the newest generation of cancer drugs. The substance conveys its potent anti-proliferative effect by selectively supressing the tyrosine kinase pathway. The Giessen lung researchers now issue a first report of this substance as a new target therapy for pulmonary hypertension

4 Oct 2005

Gleevec or similar drugs might be useful in preventing adverse side effects of smallpox vaccine

Mice given a relatively new cancer drug can survive an otherwise lethal dose of vaccinia virus, a relative of smallpox virus, report scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

27 Jun 2005

SU11248 drug show promise against neuroendocrine tumors-stubborn cancers that respond poorly to chemotherapy

A unique, targeted anti-cancer drug appears to show promise against neuroendocrine tumors-stubborn cancers that have traditionally responded poorly to chemotherapy, according to research findings announced at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

17 May 2005

New drug may help treat certain forms of leukemia

A new experimental drug may be effective against a certain form of leukemia resistant to current treatments, research at UT Southwestern Medical Center shows.

2 May 2005

Increasing benefit seen in novel drug AMN107, that treats Gleevec resistance

An investigational drug is producing powerful responses in patients resistant to Gleevec, the targeted therapy that helps most people diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), an international research team headed by investigators at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is reporting.

23 Apr 2005

New era drug gives hope to Gleevec resistant leukaemia sufferers

Gleevec, a drug regarded by many as having "wonder drug" capabilities in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) and other cancers, has been revealed as having shortcomings in that some patients have undergone a relapse after building a resistance to the drug. For others with the advanced stage of the disease, the drug has failed to produce durable remissions.

19 Apr 2005

Three different leukemias are all caused by mutations that alter a specific enzyme controlling blood cell proliferation

Identifying the genetic malfunction that causes these disorders raises the hope that researchers may be able to devise a targeted therapy, just as they have done for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), which is presently treated with Gleevec. The three leukemias that share a common genetic cause are polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET) and myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis (MMM).

28 Mar 2005

Feverfew or Bachelor's Button, kills human leukemia stem cells like no other single therapy

A daisy-like plant known as Feverfew or Bachelor's Button, a traditional remedy for reducing fevers and a treatment for nervousness, hysteria and low spirits, is the source of an agent that kills human leukemia stem cells like no other single therapy

23 Feb 2005

Why some lung cancers stop responding to the drugs erlotinib (Tarceva) and gefitinib (Iressa)

Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have found an explanation for why some lung cancers stop responding to the drugs erlotinib (Tarceva) and gefitinib (Iressa).

22 Feb 2005

New compound, AMN107, 20 times more potent than Gleevec for chronic myelogenous leukemia treatment

A laboratory study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that a potent and highly selective therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) may ultimately be more effective than Gleevec®, the current standard of care.

21 Feb 2005

New compound AMN107 may help treat some imatinib resistant cancer cases

As scientists uncover the precise molecular mechanisms that underlie effective cancer treatments, they gain invaluable insight into why predominantly successful treatments fail for some patients.

14 Feb 2005

Compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells

They started with a bare room and an idea. Now, after five years of painstaking, sophisticated tests, scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered that a compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells in laboratory cultures.

1 Feb 2005

Why some men develop aggressive prostate cancer that becomes resistant to hormone-withdrawal therapy

Researchers found that certain mutations in a protein called the androgen receptor cause advanced and invasive prostate cancer when put into otherwise healthy mice. The androgen receptor's normal function is to control growth of the prostate gland in response to cues from male hormones called androgens, which have long been thought to stimulate prostate tumors.

26 Jan 2005

Researchers to test new leukemia drug

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant cancer of the blood that affects people of all ages. While treatment is available for most of these patients, approximately 20 percent of them do not respond to it. Researchers at McGill teaching hospitals will soon study the effects of a new alternative therapy.

12 Jan 2005

Certain leukemia oncogenes switch on genetic programs that govern self-renewal, a unique stem cell characteristic

Researchers have discovered that specific cancer-causing genes associated with leukemias can transform mature white blood cells into leukemic cells that have all the properties of stem cells.

21 Dec 2004

New drug can successfully treat patients who have become resistant to Gleevec

A team of prominent researchers led by Charles Sawyers, M.D. and Moshe Talpaz, M.D., presented compelling clinical findings today showing that a new drug, BMS-354825, can successfully treat patients who have become resistant to Gleevec (the frontline therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia, CML).

5 Dec 2004

A new treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

A new treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) -- a disorder marked by an overproduction of white blood cells -- yields positive results in those who have relapsed on imatinib, the standard treatment for the disease, according to a Phase I study to be presented today at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).