Drug Alternative to Chemotherapy for Leukaemia Patients

A contraceptive pill taken in combination with a cholesterol-lowering drug has been used to treat leukaemia patients who are too frail for chemotherapy, scientists in Birmingham have revealed.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham said the first UK clinical trials indicated that the combination could be a safer and more effective treatment than chemotherapy for some sufferers.

Chris Bunce, who led the research at the University of Birmingham, said: "Normal chemotherapy can be fatal for frail patients because it attacks healthy blood cells as well as the leukaemia cells.

"This new treatment for AML is very exciting because it only targets the leukaemia cells. Read here the full article in the Birmingham Post.