What the trial was testing
The CONTINUUM enrolled 317 patients with leukemia. The study was sponsored by Celgene and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Patients on lenalidomide went 34 months without their cancer progressing versus 9 months on placebo.
The Lancet. Haematology · 2017 · NCT00774345
These findings — that lenalidomide delayed progression nearly 4 times longer than placebo — were published in the The Lancet. Haematology and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 317 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with leukemia, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
This was a large-scale study, but lenalidomide for CLL maintenance is not widely FDA-approved for this use. The study showed it delayed cancer progression but didn't help patients live longer overall. Talk to your doctor about whether this approach makes sense for you, especially if newer targeted therapies aren't available to you.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open leukemia trials
A Study Testing the Combination of Dasatinib or Imatinib to Chemotherapy Treatment With Blinatumomab for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults With Philadelphia Chromosome Positive (Ph+) or ABL-Class Philadelphia Chromosome-Like (Ph-Like) B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL)
This pilot trial assesses the effect of the combination of blinatumomab with dasatinib or imatinib and standard chemotherapy for treating patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) or ABL-class Philadelphia chromosome-like (Ph-like) B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Blinatumomab is a bispecific antibody that binds to two different proteins-one on the surface of cancer cells and one on the surface of cells in the immune system. An antibody is a protein made by the immune system to help fight infections and other harmful processes/cells/molecules. Blinatumomab may bind to the cancer cell and a T cell (which plays a key role in the immune system's fighting response) at the same time. Blinatumomab may strengthen the immune system's ability to fight cancer cells by activating the body's own immune cells to destroy the tumor. Dasatinib and imatinib are in a class of medications called tyrosine kinase inhibitors. They work by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply, which may help keep cancer cells from growing. Giving blinatumomab and dasatinib or imatinib in combination with standard chemotherapy may work better in treating patients with Ph+ or Ph-like ABL-class B-ALL than dasatinib or imatinib with chemotherapy.
Clinical Study of Hospital-manufactured CD19 CAR-T in Children and Adolescents With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) have been developed to treat relapsed and refractory hematological malignancies with promising outcome in patients with very poor prognosis. The purpose of this clinical study is to produce the CD19\[cluster of differentiation antigen 19\] CAR-T (SNUH-CD19-CAR-T) at the investigational site and to evaluate safety and efficacy of SNUH-CD19-CAR-T in children and adolescent with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.