Health

Promising Leukemia Pill

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:43 AM EST / CBS

There is some hope for thousands of patients with an often-fatal form of leukemia. Researchers are testing a pill that appears to extend patients’ lives, even those with end-stage disease. CBS Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin has the story.

The orange pill under study is known as ST1571. Some experts have called it an "astounding" success in treating leukemia:

The results of the study, which are expected to be released tomorrow, show that in many cases, the drug causes complete remission of a normally lethal disease.

"We will be presenting data on well over a thousand patients," says Brian Druker, MD. "The majority of patients are responding and even more dramatically, we are seeing large numbers of patients with no evidence of leukemia."

Judy Oren was one of the original study participants. "It's meant waking up in the morning and planning for the day," she says.

But the drug has meant a lot more than that to cancer researchers because of the way it works. Unlike chemotherapy, which kills even healthy cells, ST1571 goes after the specific genetic abnormality that causes the leukemia. The treatment is reportedly a first of its kind in so-called "targeted therapies."

"Where we go from here is to identify what those critical abnormalities are in each and every single cancer and leukemia, and then develop drugs to specifically shut down each cancer and leukemia," says Druker

The benefits of the leukemia pill include wiping out the cancer with few side effects. In Oren’s case, the worst problem has been water retention and puffy eyes.

Researchers say the results of the study are so dramatic that they'll apply to the FDA for approval as early as next year.