New hope for blood cancer patients

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Combining a standard and new chemotherapy drug added an average of 4.7 years to the lifespan of patients with the disease, according to the findings of an international trial.

In comparison, treatment with the standard drug alone extended life by just 1.9 years.

The results were so dramatic that researchers "unblinded" the trial so that all the patients could receive the combination treatment.

A total of 850 patients were enrolled into the study, including a number from the UK. Half were given a new drug, lenalidomide, as well as the standard treatment, dexamethasone. The rest received dexamethasone plus a non-active dummy drug, or placebo.

The trial was to have remained "double blinded" in this way for an estimated 10 years. But when it became obvious that some patients were surviving significantly longer than others, an ethical decision was taken to "unblind" the trial after 18 months.

Now all the patients are receiving the new treatment, while researchers continue to monitor their progress.

The survival figures were calculated from the blinded part of the trial and pooled data on dexamethasone.

One of the researchers, Dr Steve Schey, from King's College Hospital, London, who chairs the UK Myeloma Forum, said: "Lenalidomide will give patients the opportunity to live with their cancer for years rather than months. It represents a major step forward towards turning myeloma into a chronic disease rather than the death sentence it has been until now."

About 3,800 people are diagnosed with myeloma in the UK each year. The disease develops in the bone marrow, where the immune system's white blood cells are made.