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Posted: Thursday, 29 July 2010 3:40AM

Test IDs Patients Who Won't Be Helped By Standard Leukemia Treatment



(Hong Kong) -- Researchers say they've developed a test to identify patients who may not benefit from the standard form of treatment for leukemia or cancer of the blood cells. That treatment is a drug called imatinib. Writing in the journal "Clinical Cancer Research," the researchers said their finding was key because resistance to imatinib -- sold by Novartis under the brand name Gleevac -- is usually seen in relapse patients. And, those patients in turn tend to deteriorate rapidly if given the wrong treatment.

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