Canada-wide translational research initiative supported by Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Our initial goal was to determine the efficacy of the use of ribavirin as a treatment for specific subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (FAB subtypes M4 and M5). Ribavirin has been used extensively as a broad spectrum anti-viral therapy. Thanks to support of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (USA), we tested the efficacy of ribavirin treatment in the patients in a Canada-wide clinical trial. We observed striking improvement with our patients, however, all eventually developed resistance to ribavirin (Assouline et al., Blood, 2009). In a second trial funded by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we will test the efficacy of the combination of ribavirin with low dose Ara-C. In this way, we hope to overcome the resistance we observed when using ribavirin alone.

The group of investigators involved in this trial have a broad spectrum of expertise. The clinical trial and support team has extensive experience in the development and execution of clinical studies in hematology-oncology. Paralleling the clinical work, are basic science studies that will help with the development of future treatment modalities based on ribavirin and the findings of this study.