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EXJADE® Now Available
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Deferasirox brand name EXJADE® an oral iron chelator is now available
and approved for use to treat iron overload in patients
who are transfusion dependent. According to P.D. Phatak, M.D.,
Chief of Medical Oncology/Hematology at Rochester General and Vice Chair Iron Disorders
Institute Scientific Advisory Board, "Deferasirox (EXJADE®) will be helpful to more
than just transfusion dependent iron overload patients. Patients who cannot tolerate
phlebotomy with iron overload due to hereditary hemochromatosis, African siderosis,
juvenile hemochromatosis, and enzymopathies or any condition of iron overload with anemia
for that matter might benefit from this drug." Dr. Phatak also points out that treatment
with deferasirox (EXJADE®) for these disorders would be off-label use of the drug.
Iron Chelators:
The primary role of iron-chelation therapy is to prevent premature death from heart attack due to myocardial iron overload. Statistically 50% of patients with thalassemia major, an inherited condition that requires blood transfusion to sustain life, die of heart attack before the age of 35, primarily due to iron-related heart failure.
Other candidates for a iron chelation include any patient who has iron overload but is anemic. This group could include any patients receiving ongoing blood transfusion such as people with thalassemia major, sickle cell disease or cancer. Others with iron overload and anemia can include patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), sideroblastic anemia, enzyme disorders, for example: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency or G6PD; pyruvate kinase deficiency or PKD, Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II also known as HEMPAS (hereditary erythroblastic multinuclearity with positive acidified serum lysis test).
Different Types of Iron Chelation:
The type of chelation therapy used to de-iron patients described above should not be confused with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid), a method used by some alternative medicine practitioners. EDTA is a broad-spectrum chelator, meaning that it binds with and removes a wide number of minerals, including iron, but it is not specific. In contrast, desferrioxamine (Desferal®) deferiprone (Ferriprox®) and deferasirox (EXJADE®) are highly specific for iron.
To learn more about EXJADE® treatment and patient support visit: http://www.toomuchiron.com/index.jsp?checked=y
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