A trial looking at blinatumomab for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that has not responded to treatment or has come back after treatment

The trial team found that blinatumomab helped some people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that hadn’t responded to treatment or had come back.

189 people took part. Everyone had blinatumomab through a central line (a central venous catheter) into a vein in the chest. They had it through a pump. The pump gave a continuous dose of blinatumomab.

After 2 cycles of treatment, the researchers looked at how well blinatumomab had worked. They found that

• The leukaemia had completely disappeared in 63 people (they were in remission )
• The leukaemia had disappeared in 18 people but blood tests showed levels of blood cells called platelets and white blood cells were not back to normal
• The treatment didn’t work for 90 people
• They didn’t have the results for 18 people

Of the 81 people whose leukaemia had disappeared, 32 people (40%) went on to have a stem cell transplant.

The researchers followed up the people whose leukaemia had disappeared.  After an average of about 9 months, just over 4 out of 10 people (45%) remained in remission.

The most common side effects of blinatumomab were

• High temperature (fever) due to a drop in the number of white blood cells
• A drop in red blood cells
• Problems with the central nervous system such as tremors, dizziness or confusion

The trial team found that blinatumomab helped some people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. They suggest that future research looks at having blinatumomab treatment earlier or in combination with other treatments.

We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.