Positive results for Exjade (Novartis) in patients with Iron Overload

A new clinical study of Exjade (deferasirox), from Novartis, as a treatment for patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) a blood-related malignancy that involves the ineffective production of blood cells, shows beneficial iron reduction. The majority of patients with MDS require red blood cell transfusions for their anemia, but this leaves them at risk for iron overload. The results of this 3-year multicentre trial of 173 patients, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, show that deferasirox reduced iron (serum ferritin) by 23 percent in 53 percent of the patients who completed 12 months of treatment, reduced the blood iron in 36.7 percent of patients who had been on the treatment for two years, and patients who had been on the treatment for three years saw a 36.5 percent reduction in serum ferritin. The drug also reduced labile plasma iron, called the most toxic aspect of nontransferrin-bound iron that accumulates after the body's iron storage capacity has been saturated. Lead author Alan List from the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, says that a randomized trial is warranted to better ascertain the clinical impact of deferasirox therapy in lower risk patients with MDS. See: "Deferasirox Reduces Serum Ferritin and Labile Plasma Iron in RBC Transfusion�Dependent Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndrome." Alan F. List et al. Journal of Clinical Oncology June 10, 2012 vol. 30 no. 17 2134-2139.