Pfizer withdraws leukemia drug

At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, Drugmaker Pfizer Inc is pulling from the market an ineffective and potentially dangerous drug that has been prescribed to treat leukemia for a decade.

The decision came after a long term study found patients with acute myeloid leukemia or AML who used Mylotarg were more likely to die and this drug when added to chemotherapy did not offer any benefits.

Mylotarg was allowed in 2000 by the FDA to be used for treatment of patients with AML, which does not have effective treatments available and this leukemia can kill patients in a matter of months.

The FDA approval was based on a small trial involving about 140 leukemia patients which found that a quarter of patients on the drug had their disease into remission.

The current study was initiated in 2004 but terminated ahead of schedule last year when researchers found that Mylotarg offered leukemia patients no benefits and led to a high death rate.

In just a couple of months of treatment, the death rate among Mylotarg patients was 5.7 percent compared with merely 1.4 percent without using the medicine.

While Mylotarg proves ineffective and dangerous, some alternatives may help leukemia patients, according to cancertutor.com.

Jimmy Downs