FDA approves Calquence for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma

Basically, a cancer of lymph system, mantle cell is a highly invasive, non-Hodgkin lymphoma. According to a news release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that the although this cancer only contributes to 3-10 percent cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the U.S., it generally gets detected when it has already been spread.

For this aggressive type of cancer, a novel drug, called Calquence (acalabrutinib) has been approved by FDA. Calquence is a type of kinase inhibitor, which acts by restricting an enzyme that is responsible for the multiplication of cancer cells.

The approval of drug was supported by Dr. Richard Pazdur, Director of FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence. He said, “For patients who have not responded to treatment or who have relapsed, Calquence provides a new treatment option that has shown high rates or response for some patients in initial studies”.

A clinical research was conducted to test the effectiveness of the drug. The research includes clinical trial population of 124 people suffering from mantle cell lymphoma and had previously undergone single treatment. The research reported that about 81 percent of the total population was completely and partially responsive to the Calquence treatment.

The manufacturer of Calquence is the UK-based pharmaceutical firm, AstraZeneca.
Some common Calquence side effects were also reported during the research. These include headache, bruising, diarrhea, muscle pain, anemia, etc. However, there are several serious side effects of the drug, such as bleeding, infections, nonuniform heartbeat, and some other types of cancers; as suggested by FDA.