New radioimmunotherapy cancer...( A major advance in cancer therapyhigh d...),Health

In a study being highlighted at the Society of Nuclear Medicine 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, researchers from Germany studied twelve patients who had already relapsed after high-dose chemotherapy. Their study compared low-dose rituxan-based radioimmunotherapy (RIT) with a high-dose regimen of the same therapy. Seven of eight patients who received the high-dose RIT had a complete remission, compared to only one of four with low dose. The remaining high-dose person had a partial remission. At the time of publication, six of the eight (75%) were still in complete remission, and seven of the eightor 87% of the high-dose patients--were still living after 42 months.

RIT is one of the most promising of a new class of cancer-fighting therapies. It combines the power of nuclear medicine radiation therapy with the targeting capacity of monoclonal antibodies that target specific cancer cells, often without the major side effects of conventional chemotherapy. The significantly improved survival without major side effects of the higher-dose RIT is considered particularly important, even though the study itself was relatively small.

The patients received either 30-75 mCi (low dose) or 261-515 mCi (high dose) of 131I-C2B8. 131I-C2B8 is a monoclonal antibody (rituxan) to which, 131I, a well known, iodine-based radiopharmaceutical used in radiation therapy, has been attached. Side effects were moderate in the patients receiving the high-dose therapy and included mild to moderate nausea, fever and transient bilirubin (bile level) or liver enzyme elevations. A number of patientdeveloped hypothyroidism and required thyroid treatment. The German study received the highest possible score by t
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Contact: Karen Lubieniecki
karenlub@aol.com
703-683-0357
Society of Nuclear Medicine
17-Jun-2002