Leukemia risk seen with MS drug mitoxantrone

Mitoxantrone, known by the brand name Novantrone or DHAD, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of aggressive relapsing-remitting MS.

Previous studies have linked treatment with mitoxantrone with an increased risk of acute leukemia. According to those studies, acute leukemia occurred in 0.07 percent to 0.25 percent of MS patients taking mitoxantrone.

However, in a retrospective study of 2854 Italian patients with MS receiving the drug, Martinelli's group found that 21 -- or 0.74 percent -- developed acute leukemia, 8 of whom died.

Acute leukemia developed an average of 37 months after the start of mitoxantrone and an average of 18 months after the end of treatment.