- Poster with broader update of trial results to be presented at ASCO -
MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - YM BioSciences Inc. (NYSE Amex: YMI) (TSX: YM), today reported updated interim results for the first 60 patients with
high/intermediate-risk myelofibrosis who have completed a minimum of
three cycles of treatment (12 weeks) in its ongoing Phase I/II
multi-center study.
"In addition to reducing spleen volumes and improving constitutional
symptoms, CYT387 continues to demonstrate the ability to induce durable
anemia responses in a significant number of patients with transfusion
dependency associated with myelofibrosis," said Dr. Nick Glover,
President & CEO of YM BioSciences.
These results were submitted to the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as an abstract in February 2011.
Study Investigators will present additional updated information from
the study in a poster session at ASCO on June 3rd from 2:00-6:00pm. CYT387 was administered orally once daily in 28-day
cycles. Responses were assessed by International Working Group (IWG)
criteria. Forty-two of the 60 patients were evaluable for anemia
response per IWG criteria (Blood 2006;108:1497) and 33 of these were red cell transfusion-dependent. In
the latter group, anemia response required a transfusion-free period of
=12 weeks, while on protocol drug therapy, and capped by a hemoglobin
level of =8 g/dL.
Efficacy Results:
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The anemia response rate was 50% overall and 58% in
transfusion-dependent patients.
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At the time the abstract was submitted, the median duration of anemia
response was 20 weeks (range 12-54 weeks) and only two (11%) of the 19
patients who achieved transfusion-independency required single episodes
of PRBC transfusions.