When the drug flavopyridol was initially tested on humans in the 1980s it failed miserably. But what scientists didn't know then was that there was nothing WRONG with the drug - the problem was the way it was being given. It was pumped slowly into the bloodstream over a period of days.
As scientists would later discover, proteins in human blood were binding the drug and preventing it from getting where it needed to go: to the cancer cells. So instead of one slow dose, Ohio State researchers decided to try something different. First they gave a large dose quickly, and then gave a second slow dose over the course of a few hours by IV. The idea was that the first dose would keep occupy the proteins in the blood, so that the second dose was free to attack the cancer.
Dr. Thomas Lin who ran the study, says it worked, and not only that, it worked especially well in patients with a genetic condition that often makes conventional drugs ineffective.
LIN: The Exciting thing about this drug is not that it works in half of patients. The exciting thing is that it works in half of patients with really bad chromosomal abnormalities who would not be expected to respond to most standard therapies out there.
But there is one caveat.
LIN: Sometimes the drug actually works TOO well. If a lot of Leukemia cells die at one time then patients can develop a cardiac arrhythmia.
The new dosing schedule of flavopyridol is currently in a multi-center clinical trial, and Lin says he is hopeful that there is an optimal dose where patients receive it's cancer killing benefits without the risk of dangerous side-effects.
Gretchen Cuda, 90.3