Ribavirin treatment in M4/M5 acute myeloid leukemia patients

Thanks to support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (USA), we carried out a Canada-wide Phase II clinical trial to assess the use of Ribavirin as a novel therapy in the treatment of M4/M5 acute myeloid (AML) leukemia patients. This trial stemmed from pre-clinical studies indicating that ribavirin suppresses a cellular factor, eIF4E, which is involved in making cells cancerous.

Our initial findings were exciting, where many patients achieved striking responses including a complete remission lasting nearly 8 months, two partial remissions, and patients with blast responses (reduction in the % of blasts in the bone marrow by 50% or more).  There was no ribavirin related toxicities observed in any of our patients. These trail results were published in the journal Blood (Assouline et al., 2009). Unfortunately, patients eventually developed resistance to ribavirin.

To overcome resistance and to increase the frequency of response, we developed a strategy using ribavirin in combination with other drugs. This is a common strategy in the treatment of cancer. Thanks to the support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we are opening a clinical trial for AML patients where we will treat patients with a combination of ribavirin and low-dose Ara-C. Our preclinical studies suggest that this combination will be more effective than either agent alone.

The study team is led by Dr Katherine Borden at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal and involves several sites throughout Canada. Dr Sarit Assouline, at the Jewish General Hospital, is in charge of the clinical aspects of the study. The clinical trial is managed from the Clinical Research Unit at the Jewish General Hospital, a McGill affiliated hospital. For more information about the trial, please contact Dr Effie Cocolakis, the study coordinator (ecocolakis@jgh.mcgill.ca).