New findings published in the Annals of Internal Medicine this week have found that the standard therapy for patients who are on the verge of kidney failure is useless. The study conducted by researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute scientists in London, Canada found that a treatment called "plasma exchange" in patients with multiple myeloma has no benefits.
This means that the money which is currently spent in the treatment of the disease could now be directed elsewhere, according to Dr. Bill Clark, principal investigator in the study. Plasma exchange currently costs $5,000 to $6,000.The procedure takes up 2.5 hours and was expected to reduce kidney damage in these patients. “It is good news in that sense," Clark said, adding that they had expected to find that this procedure would eventually reduce the need for dialysis in multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. However, in all the 14 research centers in Canada, the researchers could find no benefit of the procedure. It also had no effect on the prevailing death or dialysis rates.The scientists are now hoping that the treatment guidelines would be changed after the findings of their study.
