[Further study on the treatment of severe beta-thalassemia with myleran]

In a previous paper we reported the results of treatment of five patients with beta-thalassemia major with myleran. Three more cases are reported in this paper. After 40-50 days of oral administration of myleran, major hematological findings (Hb, HbF, RBC) began to increase and remained at higher level for 4-5 months before dropping back to the original. The results of analysis of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) showed no irreversible damage on chromosomal DNA of the patients at the dosage used (0.2 mg/kg.d). It was also demonstrated that the effect of treatment does not seem to be related to the types of beta-globin gene mutations of the patients.