EMBARGOED: 6AM TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Australian doctors have welcomed the approval of MabThera® (rituximab) for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), the most common form of adult leukaemia. MabThera plus chemotherapy can significantly extend a patient’s time in remission compared to chemotherapy alone.

The hundreds of Australians living with this often life-threatening disease can now be offered a treatment proven to prolong time in remission.

Associate Professor John Seymour, from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, commented: “CLL is Australia’s most common type of leukaemia and it remains incurable. MabThera works in a different way to chemotherapy – by more specifically targeting the CLL cells, MabThera inhibits tumour growth and can prolong the patient’s time in remission.”

Contrary to common belief, leukaemia is not only a childhood cancer – CLL is the most common form of leukaemia experienced in adults and accounts for up to 30 percent of all forms of leukaemia, affecting almost 1,000 Australians every year.

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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN SEYMOUR - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne