MORTON COLEMAN, MD: If there's one plea that I make to my fellow physicians, is that if you're going to use radioimmunotherapy, to use it earlier rather than later. The chances of being successful with this particular therapy is far greater if you use it early on in the treatment schema, rather than waiting until the patient has had multiple therapies.
The nice thing about radioimmunotherapy is that it's therapy that's really completed within a couple of weeks, so it's extremely convenient for the patient. Also, we find that patients who respond to radioimmunotherapy -- and again, the chances of responding very well are greater when used early on, that these responses are very durable and long-lasting so that it's a very convenient way to treat people. The total duration of therapy, as I said, is short, and very often the remissions are prolonged, measured in many, many, many, many years.
JOHN LEONARD, MD: The radioimmunotherapy is one option, and the challenge is among the different treatment options that we have for this particular group of patients with disease that's relatively sensitive, relatively early in the course. There are some issues of potential long-term side effects as far as effects on the bone marrow, but in general I think these are not a major issue for most patients, but something that patients need to keep in mind and speak about with their doctors.
