Scientists Discover that Campath Helps Leukemia Patients
Campath is a breakthrough drug used to help patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CLL is cancer of white blood cells which leads to weakening of the immune system. It affects over 12,000 people a year in the United States alone and there is no largely successful therapy for it. The most common drug used in chemotherapy for CLL patients is chlorambucil, which only about 55% of all patients respond to. However, William Wierda, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Texas, encourages usage of Campath for chemotherapy on CLL patients. Although Wierda’s patients have been responsive, many people are spectacle of this drug because it’s usually involved in excess infectious. At the 48th American Society of Hematology meeting that took place from December 9th to 12th, proof was presented that 83% of test subjects responded to Campath. An amazing 24% of patients responded completely to Campath, which is an explosion compared to the mere 2% of patients that respond completely to chlorambucil. “We can’t really say we can cure this disease,” Wierda said, “but we can change it into something that is truly chronic such as diabetes.”
-Amy Shah
