Study Shows Ibrutinib Increases Leukaemia Survival Rates To 90 Percent

A new global phase III clinical trial completed at the Melbourne Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has shown that patients taking the leukaemia drug Ibrutinib encountered a 90 percent chance of survival, which was 9 percent higher than the 81 percent who survive when treated with standard chemotherapy treatments.

The RESONATE trial, which was held at the cancer center  in Australia, enrolled 391 patients who had Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, or CLL, which is a slow progressing blood cancer. More than 350 Australians with CLL die each year. The disease, which affects specialized white blood cells, has the potential to spread and multiply throughout the body. The cancer is relatively rare, but older people have a higher chance of contracting the disease. Its slow development means that many people don’t recognize the early symptoms.

Researchers believe that Ibrutinib is a breakthrough, and that in some cases it could potentially replace chemotherapy as a treatment for CLL. Ibrutinib is not as invasive or damaging to the body as chemotherapy, and its results last for longer than standard cancer treatments. While 4 out of every  10 patients treated with standard chemotherapy saw remission in the period of a year, 40 out of 100 patients treated with Ibrutinib reached the same result. Dr. Con Tam, who headed the study, said that the drug could eventually replace chemotherapy as a safer and longer lasting option for cancer treatment. He added that patients that don’t respond to chemotherapy will now have a viable alternative for CLL treatment.

Ibrutinib works by blocking an enzyme which is critical for the survival of leukaemia cells. The drug has already been fast tracked for approval in the US, and it is expected to be available in Australia in about a year. However, cost is believed to be an issue, especially since it might be 2-3 years before the Australian government lists the drug on Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme.