Bendamustine in non-hodgkin lymphoma: The double-agent that came from the cold war
Document Type
Article
Department
Haematology and Oncology, East Africa
Abstract
Bendamustine was first synthesized in the early 1960s at the Institute for Microbiology and Experimental Therapy in Jena, East Germany by Ozegowski and Krebs. The molecule, originally termed IMET 3393 (4-[5-(bis[2-chloroethyl]amino)-1-methyl-2-benzimidazolyl] butyric acid), was intended to be a "bi-functional" molecule with alkylator and antimetabolite properties. Extensive studies were conducted using this compound over a 20-year period in East Germany, and it became a highly used chemotherapeutic agent in the eastern block before the fall of the iron curtain. After its licensing in Europe in the mid 1990s, more than 18,000 patients were studied using this compound, principally in Germany. Over the past decade, significant interest has been generated as a result of ongoing studies that have demonstrated the unique antitumor properties of this compound as a single agent and in different combinations. This article provides a review of studies using bendamustine in the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
Publication (Name of Journal)
Clinical Lymphoma and Myeloma
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3816/CLM.2007.s.028
Recommended Citation
Forero-Torres, A.,
Saleh, M.
(2007). Bendamustine in non-hodgkin lymphoma: The double-agent that came from the cold war. Clinical Lymphoma and Myeloma, 8(1), 1-5.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_haematol_oncol/32
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Comments
This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.