(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Leukemia and lymphoma are two of the most common blood cancers, claiming a respected 22,000 and 20,000 lives every year; but new treatments are helping patients survive the battle.

The investigational drug fostamatinib disodium has been found a safe and novel therapeutic approach that experts say should be further developed to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In addition, using dexamethasone in early treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, has been found to cut the risk of relapse.

Another new investigational chemotherapy agent, Pralatrexate (PDX), has been shown to make all signs of cancer disappear in patients who had previously failed an average of three treatment regimens. Also, positive results from a study of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) chemoimmunotherapy may help make it the new standard first-line of defense against advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

"By conducting ongoing research with new, investigational treatments as well as with different combinations of existing treatment options that have been used for years, we are working to improve the survival of our patients with leukemia and lymphoma," Linda Burns, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn., was quoted as saying.

SOURCE: 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, San Francisco, CA, December 13-17, 2008