INDIANAPOLIS – The preliminary findings of a new drug to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and being studied at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers and nationally is the focus of a poster presentation at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology 2010 Annual Meeting (ASCO).Oncologist Maureen Cooper, M.D., and other experts are testing the usefulness and safety of voreloxin, an intravenous agent being developed by Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The study, which Cooper is leading at St. Francis, is being used for patients over the age of 60 who have not received any other treatment.
AML is a rapidly progressing disease that generally occurs in elderly patients who are often ineligible for standard therapies.
Cooper is joined in the study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina, the LSUHSC Feist Weiller Cancer Center, Scripps Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Indiana University Cancer Center, Cancer Center of Kansas and the Rocky Mountain Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.
ASCO is an international organization representing physicians who treat people with cancer. This year’s conference is June 4-8 in Chicago.
To learn more about services and treatment programs at the St. Francis Cancer Center, go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.
