Hard-to-treat leukemia finally has a cure. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Venclexta for patients suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, this new drug hopes to cure chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that has relapsed or that which does not seem to respond to any form of treatment. It was explained that this cure kills cancer cells in a person's system.
It was also explained that Venclexta specifically targets a protein that aids the growth of cancer cells. By taking this drug, a person increases his or her body's capacity to block the said protein and help in killing cancer cells in a natural way.
The effective medicine, however, does not come cheap. The Salt Lake Tribune said the drug costs $109,500 during the first year of treatment. This amount is said to be higher than prices of other medicines available for the disease.
On its website, the FDA mentioned that the drug will be a great help to CLL patients especially that an estimated 15,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. "For certain patients with CLL who have not had favorable outcomes with other therapies, Venclexta may provide a new option for their specific condition," said FDA Center for Drug and Evaluation and Research's Office of Hematology and Oncology Products director Richard Pazdur.
He explained that the drug was properly tested among 106 patients with CLL who were given Venclexta every day. The patients took a 20 mg of the drug orally during the initial part of the trial then their dosage was increased to 400 mg by the end of the five-week testing.
"Results showed that 80 percent of trial participants experienced a complete or partial remission of their cancer," added the FDA website. It was also highlighted that the drug can also cause side effects like nausea, anemia, diarrhea, upper respiratory tract infection and fatigue. Doctors also warned patients that serious side effects are also possible including fever, tumor lysis syndrome and autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
