haematologica/the hematology journal | 2006; 91(7) | 873 |

Randomized phase II trial of deferasirox (Exjade®, ICL670), a once-daily, orally-administered iron chelator, in comparison to deferoxamine in thalassemia patients with transfusional iron overload Patients with chronic anemias such as tha-lassemia, sickle cell disease, congenitalrare anemias and myelodysplastic syn-dromes require regular blood transfusions in order to improve both quality of life and sur-vival. Humans are unable to eliminate the iron released from the breakdown of transfused red blood cells and the excess iron is deposit-ed as hemosiderin and ferritin in the liver, spleen, endocrine organs and myocardium. The accumulation of toxic quantities of iron causes tissue damage and leads to complica-tions such as heart failure, diabetes, hypothy