Results from a retrospective study demonstrate that a set of protein bio­markers found in urine can be used to predict the development of acute graft-versus-host disease in patients who undergo donor stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion.

During the study, levels of specific urine proteins were used to generate a "classi­fication factor," named aGvHD_MS17, designed to predict a pa­tient's probability of developing acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

The study's findings may allow for early detection and preemptive treat­ment of acute GVHD, a potentially fatal …

Results from a retrospective study show that delaying stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion following initial therapy may result in shorter progression-free survival following transplantation compared to transplantation soon after diagnosis.

However, the results also show that the timing of transplantation does not significantly impact overall survival.

The median progression-free survival after transplantation was 28 months for those who underwent early transplantation (within 12 months of diagnosis) compared to 18 months for those who underwent delayed transplantation (more than 12 months after diagnosis).  …

German researchers recently developed a new system that calculates the risk level of multiple myeloma patients based on patient’s overall health status and other diseases a patient has in addition to myeloma.

Their system, called the Freiburg Comorbidity Index, calculates a patient’s risk level by determining the presence of known risk factors, such as poor overall health and kidney or lung disease.

The researchers found that this index can be used independently to predict progression-free survival and overall survival in …

Findings from a recent study conducted by a group of European re­searchers show that genetically diverse abnormal plasma cells, known as clones, are pres­ent in all stages of myeloma, from its precursor stages through to its symp­tom­at­ic stage.

These sets of abnormal plasma cells compete against one another, the re­searchers argue, and pro­mote disease progression through a Darwin­ian evolu­tion­ary model -- not by ac­cumu­la­tion of additional muta­tions over time, as was previously believed to be the case.

In addition, the …

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin recently found that mul­ti­ple myeloma patients are at an increased risk of engraftment syndrome following stem cell transplantation, compared to patients with lym­pho­ma. Engraftment syndrome is a complication that can occur soon after stem cell transplantation.

Within the myeloma population, the risk of engraftment syndrome was in­creased in patients who are over 60 years of age, have been treated with the novel agents Revlimid (lenalidomide) and/or Velcade (bortezo­mib), or have not been …

Results from a small Phase 2 study conducted in Italy demon­strate that se­quen­tial treatment with novel agents and au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion with intermediate-dose melphalan is a safe and ef­fec­tive treat­ment for older, newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

“This is the first study with a sequential approach of Velcade in­duc­tion, autol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion, and Revlimid main­te­nance,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the University of Torino in Italy.

The regimen was safest in patients under the age …

Researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently pub­lished what they describe as a "curative blueprint" for myeloma.

The "blueprint" outlines key issues the researchers believe need to be ad­dressed if medical science is to achieve a cure for myeloma.

A crucial question that needs to be answered, the researchers argue, is whether treating "early myeloma" is more advantageous than waiting until the disease has progressed to the symptomatic, or active, stage.

The NIH researchers define "early myeloma" …