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BeyondSpring’s Plinabulin May Prevent Tissue Iron Overload in Anemic Cancer Patients Receiving Chronic Blood Transfusions During Chemotherapy
- New Data to be Presented at NCCN 2020 Annual Conference - NEW YORK, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BeyondSpring Inc. (the “Company” or “BeyondSpring”)
About this update from Beyondspring, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- New Data to be Presented at NCCN 2020 Annual Conference -\n NEW YORK, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BeyondSpring Inc. (the “Company” or “BeyondSpring”) (NASDAQ: BYSI), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative immuno-oncology cancer therapies, today announced that the Company will present new clinical data on BeyondSpring’s first-in-class, late-stage asset, Plinabulin, showing its potential ability to prevent tissue iron overload, a common cause of vital organ damages, in cancer patients who are receiving chronic blood transfusions as a result of their chemotherapy. Dr. Ramon Mohanlal, BeyondSpring’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Research and Development, will present the data as a poster at this year’s National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Conference. Chemotherapy typically causes myelosuppression (bone marrow suppression), which leads to reduced white and red blood cell counts (anemia) in cancer patients. During the resulting blood transfusions, a high level of free iron / hemoglobin complex is released in the blood (called hemolysis) and binds haptoglobin. As a result, the haptoglobin concentration is depleted quickly, leaving the patient unprotected from an increase in toxic iron levels. Increased free iron levels are deposited in the patient’s tissue, damaging vital organs such as the heart, liver, endocrine system and bone marrow, which leads to increased morbidity and mortality. The body’s natural defense mechanism to neutralize the free iron / hemoglobin complex is haptoglobin which, upon binding, safely removes iron. The data that will be presented at NCCN shows that Plinabulin is a potent inducer of haptoglobin, which could restore the rapid depletion in haptoglobin levels during blood transfusions. A single dose of Plinabulin increased haptoglobin levels in a dose-dependent manner (p","length":2712,"tagName":"div"}]