Howard Chang's Archive

Howard is a sophomore at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he is studying molecular biology. He plans on attending medical school and becoming a physician after graduating from college. Howard has a wide range of academic interests, from biology and chemistry to history and religion. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing and watching basketball, and talking with friends. Howard joined The Myeloma Beacon team as a writer in February 2011.

Howard Chang has written 68 article(s) .

[ by and | Jun 13, 2012 1:19 pm | 10 Comments ]
Elotuzumab Combination Continues To Show Promise As Treatment For Multiple Myeloma (ASCO 2012)

Elotuzumab in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid and dexa­meth­a­sone con­tinues to show prom­ise in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory myeloma patients, ac­cord­ing to up­dated re­­sults from an on­go­ing Phase 2 clin­i­cal trial.

Response rates con­tinued to be high, par­tic­u­larly among study par­tic­i­pants re­ceiv­ing the lower elotuzumab dose.  In addi­tion, the rate of severe side effects remained low.

Dr. Philippe Moreau from the Uni­ver­sity Hospital in Nantes, France, pre­sented the re­­sults last Monday at the 48th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology …

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[ by and | Jun 8, 2012 8:09 pm | One Comment ]
Extensive Carfilzomib Clinical Trial Results Presented (ASCO 2012)

Results from a number of clinical trials studying car­filz­o­mib for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma were presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting last weekend.

Findings from three Phase 1/2 clinical trials showed that several carfilzomib (Kyprolis) com­bi­na­tions are effective for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. Researchers involved in each of these clinical trials presented the results during oral presentations at the ASCO meeting.

In addi­tion, early results from …

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[ by and | Jun 7, 2012 3:13 pm | 3 Comments ]
Daratumumab Shows Promise As Treatment For Relapsed / Refractory Multiple Myeloma (ASCO 2012)

Interim results of an ongoing early-stage clin­i­cal trial indicate that dara­tu­mu­mab is safe as a treat­ment for re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. In addi­tion, dara­tu­mu­mab showed promising activity in the trial par­tic­i­pants.

Dr. Torben Plesner of Vejle Hospital in Denmark presented the pre­lim­i­nary results of the Phase 1/2 study at the 48th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on Monday.

“The efficacy [of dara­tu­mu­mab] looks very promising,” said Dr. Andrzej Jakubowiak, the director of the myeloma …

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[ by | May 4, 2012 12:32 pm | One Comment ]
Solitary Bone Plasmacytoma – What Every Patient Should Know

Solitary bone plasmacytoma is a plasma cell disorder characterized by the formation of a single tumor in the bone.

The tumor, also called a plasmacytoma, occurs when abnormal plasma cells originating in the bone marrow accumulate on the interior surface of the bone. However, in patients with solitary bone plasmacytoma, these malignant plasma cells are typically not present throughout the bone marrow itself or in the soft tissues surrounding the bone.

The following article provides a detailed introduction to solitary …

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[ by | Apr 11, 2012 1:02 pm | 4 Comments ]
Heavy/Light Chain Ratios May Be A Prognostic Marker For Myeloma Patients

The results of a small Spanish study indicate that heavy/light chain ratios may be a prognostic marker for myeloma patients.

Specifically, the Spanish researchers found that multiple myeloma patients who experienced elevated heavy/light chain ratios after achieving complete remission following a stem cell transplant had longer progression-free and overall survival rates than patients who did not experience elevated heavy/light chain ratios.

According to the study investigators, these results show for the first time the association between a heavy/light chain ratio …

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[ by | Apr 4, 2012 11:25 am | Comments Off ]
Beacon NewsFlashes – April 4, 2012

Delanzomib Shows High Activity Against Myeloma In Preclinical Studies – Results of pre-clinical studies indicate that delanzomib (CEP-18770) is highly active against myeloma cells. Specifically, the researchers found that delanzomib is comparable in activity to Velcade (bortezomib). Delanzomib, like Velcade, is a boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitor that suppresses cancer cell growth by inhibiting the enzymes that break down important proteins in cancer cells. The researchers also found that delanzomib inhibited tumor enzyme activity significantly more than Velcade (60 …

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[ by | Apr 2, 2012 11:03 am | One Comment ]
Drug-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy In Multiple Myeloma Patients – Part 3: Prevention And Future Directions

A group of multiple myeloma experts from the International Myeloma Working Group recently published a review of management strategies for drug-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with multiple myeloma.

This Beacon article, the third in a three-part series, summarizes the experts’ recommendations for prevention of peripheral neuropathy as well as future steps toward better management of the condition.

The first article in the series describes peripheral neuropathy and summarizes the symptoms of drug-induced neuropathy as well as the risk …

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