Clinical trials of Ceplene showed that it prolongs remission and prevents relapse in patients under the age 60, and it was also successful in averting additional 20% of relapses during three years of chemotherapy.
Ceplene is the first and only treatment proven to extend first remission in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukaemia in the UK.
The study, presented by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, involved 320 AML patients from eleven countries worldwide, in which the patients underwent repeated courses of treatment for a period of 18 months after chemotherapy to protect them from relapse.
The trial results showed that the combination of histamine dihydrochloride (Ceplene) and the immune system molecule Interleukin-2 significantly improved relapse protection rates for three years.
The efficacy of Ceplene to prevent relapse was also seen after a separate analysis at six years.
University of Gothenburg professor Kristoffer Hellstrand said that this is a new therapeutic option for AML patients that has the potential to improve the outcome in one of the deadliest forms of cancer.
Ceplene works by facilitating the anti-leukaemic functions of lymphocytes, which allows the natural killer cells and T cells in the immune system to destroy any remaining cancer cells.