Genasense active in treating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

The positive results were presented by principal investigator, Dr Barbara Pro, at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma in Lugano, Switzerland, following trials carried out at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In the study, Genasense (oblimersen sodium) was administered daily for seven days on weeks one, three and five, and rituximab was administered weekly for six weeks. Thirty-five patients who had failed a median of two prior chemotherapy regimens with or without rituximab were entered into this ongoing trial.

To date, six patients have achieved a complete response, one of whom was refractory to prior rituximab therapy. Nine other patients have achieved a partial response for an overall response rate of 42%. Patients with the specific subset of follicular lymphoma showed a response rate of 56%. Twelve other patients have had stable disease.

Side effects of the combination appeared qualitatively similar to that for rituximab alone, including but not limited to neutropenia, fever, infection, anemia and fatigue.

“The Genasense-rituximab combination trials are high priorities for the company in both Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia,” commented Dr Loretta Itri, chief medical officer.

“We anticipate that future registration trials in both of these indications will incorporate the use of rituximab. These early demonstrations of safety and activity are key to the translation of promising preclinical work into patients, as well as for building the combination regimens for new trials in these diseases.”