Chemotherapy and Biotherapy

Promacta for low platelets of acute leukemia or myelodysplasia

Low platelet counts are a frequent symptom in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eltrombopag(Promacta) might be a new option to treat this problem in these diseases, provided that it can be shown that it does not stimulate malignant growht. Unfortunately, there is no significant literature to support Promacta in the setting of ongoing treatment for AML with Vidaza or in MDS. Currenlty PROMACTA is not indicated

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Intravenous gammaglobulin for ITP – pro

Lay Summary: IVIG is standard for ITP but represents a "holding action" rather than a cure. IVIG is approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of the following diseases: Kawasaki disease, dermato/polymyositis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Guillain-Barre syndrome, polyneuropathy, some viral diseases, and some forms of immune deficiency. The place of IVIG in the treatment of ITP is not well clarified. It does not modify the disease

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Sorafenib for FLT3+ AML

Sorafenib (Nexavar,) has been approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cancer and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Among other biological actions, is the ones against FLT3-RTK and FLT3-ITD, suggesting that it may have a role in treating AML cases that have FLT3 mutations. Sorafenib in a phase 1 clinical trial on 16 patients with AML was found to be active in 6 of the 7 Flt3-ITD–positive patients. However, treatment duration was short (21-70

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