At the XII International Myeloma Workshop Saturday, myeloma experts presented their consensus panel report to attendees on the topic of risk stratification in multiple myeloma.

Risk stratification, as defined by the panel leaders, refers to how a patient will progress with myeloma and how to proceed with treatment. The panel’s goal was to propose standard guidelines to evaluate a patient’s risk factors and then determine how to treat such a patient.

For the panel discussion, risk …

The XII International Myeloma Workshop is set to kickoff next Thursday, February 26, in Washington, D. C., after being relocated from the previous conference site of Mumbai.

The conference, which occurs every two years, will bring together multiple myeloma experts from around the world to discuss new milestones in myeloma treatment and research.

The workshop began in 1987 after the first bone marrow transplantation was performed on a myeloma patient. Thirty-five leaders in the myeloma community …

Multiple myeloma patients in England and Wales will now be able to receive Revlimid (lenalidomide) as a treatment option under the National Health System (NHS) after an agreement was reached between NHS and Celgene, the maker of Revlimid.

The news comes after Celgene proposed a new cost-sharing plan where the NHS will pay for the first two years of treatment, and Celgene will pick up the bill for any further treatment. It is estimated that approximately 17 percent …

Fraternity Raises $75,000 To Benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – At the University of Georgia last semester, the Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) raised $75,000 in only three months for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). They beat last year's total of $59,365 and surpassed this year's goal of $65,000. The freshmen members sought donations from friends, family, and businesses. Thirty-five members took part in the “Light the Night Walk” in Athens, GA, a nationwide LLS fundraising …

At the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting this Monday, researchers from Italy reported the positive results of a Phase 2 clinical trial combining Velcade (bortezomib) with thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexamethasone (VTD) for the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. The drug combination was used as an induction regimen to reduce the tumor in preparation for melphalan-based autologous stem cell transplantation.

Chemotherapy combined with autologous stem cell transplantation – stem cells collected and returned …

For elderly myeloma patients or patients ineligible for a stem cell transplant, a traditional frontline therapy has been the “MP” combination of the chemotherapy drug melphalan and the corticosteroid prednisone.

Recent clinical trials, however, have combined highly effective, newer treatments such as Velcade (bortezomib), thalidomide (Thalomid), and Revlimid (lenalidomide) with the standard MP regimen in the hope of finding improved response and survival rates.

This Monday at the 50th annual meeting of the American …

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic today reported positive results of a Phase 2 clinical trial combining Actimid (pomalidomide) with low-dose dexamethasone (pom-dex) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients. The results were presented earlier today at the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Actimid, also known as pomalidomide or CC-4047, is a molecular relative of the commonly used myeloma treatment thalidomide (Thalomid). Like thalidomide, Actimid is an immunomodulatory agent, meaning that it has …