A newly tested combination therapy showed a higher rate of survival compared to chemotherapy alone, according to a study published July 24 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from academic institutions including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, conducted a clinical trial testing the combination therapy of blinatumomab plus chemotherapy on the survival rates of patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A total of 488 leukemia patients ages 30 to 70 were enrolled in the trial. Of those patients, 224 were in remission and tested negative for any measurable residual disease. Those participants were then split into two groups, with 112 patients receiving chemotherapy only and 112 receiving blinatumomab plus chemotherapy.
The overall survival rate for patients three years after the study was 85% for those who received the combination therapy and 68% for those who received chemotherapy only. The relapse-free survival rate for patients after three years for patients who received blinatumomab plus chemotherapy was 80%, and 64% for patients who received chemotherapy alone.
The study reported a higher rate of neurologic or psychiatric events for the group who received the combination therapy (23%) compared to the chemotherapy alone group (5%).
"These results are encouraging and establish a new standard of treatment for people with BCP-ALL. The addition of blinatumomab to chemotherapy reduced the risk of leukemia recurrence and death by nearly 60%," Mark Litzow, MD, lead study author and hematologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in a July 24 news release from the Mayo Clinic.