Alzheimer's Drug Shows Early Promise

June 29 -- FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Long-anticipated results from a trial on an experimental Alzheimer's therapy look promising, at least in a certain group of patients.

Findings that are slated to be presented Sunday at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Chicago suggest that while the drug, bapineuzumab, showed only a modest trend towards a benefit in patients with the ApoE4 gene, there were more notable improvements in the degree of cognitive decline in individuals lacking the gene.

Patients who lack the ApoE4 gene have a predisposition to developing Alzheimer's, especially earlier in life.

"This is the first study of adequate size and duration that suggests the immunotherapy beta-amyloid model works," said Dr. Anton Porsteinsson, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine who was one of the investigators for the study. "Immunotherapy is a huge front in the development of treatments."

Many experts are hoping the results will usher in a new era in Alzheimer's treatment and research. "If it had failed, it would have significant reverberations," Porsteinsson. "It allows this and multiple other studies to move forward. It's a big relief, but it also turns into considerable excitement."

"The recently announced bapineuzumab results were encouraging enough to keep moving forward, but yet not definitive enough to be certain of any effect," added Dr. Sam Gandy, chairman of the Alzheimer's Association National Medical and Scientific Advisory Council and an Alzheimer's expert with Mount Sinai in New York City. " The best care for any Alzheimer's patient is in the setting of a clinical trial, if possible, with bapineuzumab or any of a number of agents. Our most promising drugs are in trials and not yet approved."

Gandy serves as a safety monitor on another Wyeth/Elan vaccine trial. Wyeth and Elan also sponsored the current trial.

Immunotherapy, an emerging frontier for a variety of different diseases, involves stimulating the body's own immune system to fight various conditions, including cancer.