CTI's Trisenox may make Gleevec more effective

Recent preclinical research suggests that Trisenox (arsenic trioxide),currently marketed by Cell Therapeutics for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia, may make Novartis Oncology's Glivec/Gleevec (imatinib mesylate; formerly known as STI-571), more effective in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Scientists have found that the combination of Trisenox and Gleevec is more effective at inducing malignant cell death than either of the drugs when used alone and may also have the potential to delay resistance to Trisenox, which selectively decreases the levels of the gene responsible for CML, bcr-abl, and induces cell death in bcr-abl-positive leukemia cells in a manner which is independent of the mechanism of inhibition of abl-kinase by Gleevec. Brian Druker, professor of medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University, USA, said that "Trisenox is very effective at killing CML cells, and we are in the process of testing Trisenox in combination with STI-571."