Results from a recent retrospective study conducted in France indicate that long-term treat­ment with Revlimid plus dex­a­meth­a­sone is effective in delaying dis­ease progression in relapsed multiple myeloma patients.

Among patients treated with Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus dex­a­meth­a­sone (Dec­a­dron) for at least two years, almost all (96 percent) responded to treat­ment, with 74 percent achieving at least a very good partial re­sponse.

Patients who received treat­ment for at least three years were significantly more likely to have not yet …

Final results from a recent Phase 2 clinical trial continue to indicate that panobinostat in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone is effective for heavily pretreated multiple myeloma.

In the study, known as “PANORAMA 2,” patients who had previously relapsed and were no longer responsive to Velcade (bortezomib)-based treatment received panobinostat in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone (Decadron).

The results show that one-third (35 percent) of the patients responded to the treatment, and the median progression-free survival was 5.4 …

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).  …

Velcade Receives Additional Approvals In Europe – The approved uses of Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) for mul­ti­ple myeloma patients were recently ex­panded in the Euro­pean Union. These addi­tional approved uses in­clude treat­ment of newly diag­nosed trans­plant-eligible myeloma patients with Velcade plus dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) or Velcade plus thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexa­meth­a­sone, as well as retreatment of re­lapsed myeloma patients with Velcade for those who responded to prior Velcade ther­apy.  Previously, Velcade was approved in com­bi­na­tion with

The European Commission (EC) has approved pomalidomide for the treatment of certain patients with multiple myeloma.  The European brand name for the drug is expected to be "Imnovid," although final regu­la­tory approval of that name is still pending.

In the United States, pomalidomide is marketed under the brand name Poma­lyst.  It was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Ad­min­is­tra­tion (FDA) as a new treatment for myeloma.

The EC approved Imnovid …

Results from a Spanish Phase 3 study published late Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that treatment of high-risk smol­dering multiple myeloma with Revlimid plus dexamethasone delays pro­gression to symptomatic multiple myeloma and extends overall sur­viv­al.

In addition, the Revlimid (lenalidomide)-dexamethasone (Decadron) regi­men had an acceptable safety profile, according to the investigators.

Despite these findings – which would tend to support active treatment of high-risk smoldering myeloma – myeloma experts believe it is too early to …