The US Food and Drug Administration approved Beleodaq (belinostat) for the treatment of patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), a rare and fast-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). PTCL comprises a diverse group of rare diseases in which lymph nodes become cancerous. In 2014, the National Cancer Institute estimates that 70,800 Americans will be diagnosed with NHL and 18,990 will die. PTCL represents about 10 to 15 per cent of NHLs in North America. Beleodaq works by stopping enzymes that contribute to T-cells, a type of immune cell, becoming cancerous. It is intended for patients whose disease returned after treatment (relapsed) or did not respond to previous treatment (refractory).
“This is the third drug that has been approved since 2009 for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma,” said Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
The FDA granted accelerated approval to Folotyn (pralatrexate) in 2009 for use in patients with relapsed or refractory PTCL and Istodax (romidepsin) in 2011 for the treatment of PTCL in patients who received at least one prior therapy. The safety and effectiveness of Beleodaq was evaluated in a clinical study involving 129 participants with relapsed or refractory PTCL. All participants were treated with Beleodaq until their disease progressed or side effects became unacceptable. Results showed 25.8 percent of participants had their cancer disappear (complete response) or shrink (partial response) after treatment. The most common side effects seen in Beleodaq-treated participants were nausea, fatigue, fever (pyrexia), low red blood cells (anemia), and vomiting.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai
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