Fludarabine-Cyclophosphamide Combo, Increases Survival from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL)

The most common leukaemia in the developed world, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) remains incurable while the best treatment continues to be defined by research.

Compared with single treatment with either agent alone, the combination treatment of fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) greatly increases progression-free survival and response rates.

Such were the findings of Professor Daniel Catovsky, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK and colleagues recently reported in The Lancet:

“We have shown that the combination treatment of fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide produces a substantial improvement in both response rates and progression-free survival compared with either single-agent chlorambucil or fludarabine.

…the authors claim this combination treatment should now become the standard treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and the basis for new protocols that incorporate monoclonal antibodies.

Both chemotherapy drugs most commonly used for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Fludarabine is commercially available as Fludara® (product of Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals) while cyclophosphamide is commercially available as Cytoxan® or Neosar®.

Find more details from the full report.