STANFORD, Calif. — Miss Marple notwithstanding, arsenic might not be many people's favorite chemical. But the notorious poison does have some medical applications. Specifically, a form called arsenic trioxide has been used as a therapy for a particular type of leukemia for more than 10 years. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that it may be useful in treating a variety of other cancers.
It killed Chinese emperor Guangxu a century ago and Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair was found with high levels of it. Now, the ancient poison arsenic has found a more promising use: as a children’s cancer treatment.
For the first time, arsenic trioxide is being used in a clinical trial as the first drug doctors reach for when treating kids with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a bone marrow cancer – in a discovery that seems...
“Our results showed that the therapeutic efficacy of the [arsenic trioxide treatment] regimen is comparable with that of [all-trans retinoic acid] plus chemotherapy,” researchers wrote.
CytRx and Cephalon Oncology Therapies to be Evaluated as Treatment for Relapsed Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
September 14, 2009 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Clinical Trial Combining Tamibarotene with TRISENOX to Determine Appropriate Dose for Planned Phase 2 Trial as First-line and Follow-on Treatment for APL Patients
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization...
Last Updated: 2009-02-16 17:00:19 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new report confirms the long-term safety and efficacy of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)/arsenic trioxide (ATO) combination therapy in patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia.
The safety and efficacy of ATRA/ATO had been shown in short-term studies, Dr. Zhu Chen and colleagues explain in the February 16th Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,...
