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 …

The U.S. pharmaceutical company Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) reported yester­day the dis­continuation of the com­pany’s Phase 3 study of Revlimid for chronic lympho­cytic leu­kemia.

Preliminary results from the study, which compared treatment with Rev­li­mid (lenalidomide) to treatment with chlorambucil (Leukeran), showed more deaths among patients be­ing treated with Revlimid than those be­ing treated with chlor­ambucil.

The study, known as the "ORIGIN" trial, included 421 previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) pa­tients at least 65 years of age.

The U.S. Food …

Results from a recent small Phase 3 clinical trial show that the use of Velcade in preparation for donor stem cell transplantation as well as its use soon after transplantation and as maintenance therapy may be effective in high-risk multiple myeloma patients.

The results also indicate that the use of Velcade (bortezomib) soon after donor trans­­plan­­ta­­tion reduces the risk of developing a life-threatening donor trans­plant-related complication known as graft-versus-host disease.

The researchers note that, similar to other donor transplant protocols, …

This year’s meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was held May 31 through June 4 in Chicago.

During the meeting, The Beacon pub­lished daily up­dates that provided over­views of the im­por­tant mul­ti­ple myeloma findings pre­sented during the meeting.

Now that the meeting has concluded, the focus shifts to the bigger picture: What were the key findings of the meeting? Were there re­­sults with im­medi­ate im­pli­ca­­tions for the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma?  Did the re­search …

In a recent review article pub­lished in the journal Clinical Cancer Re­search, two myeloma experts from the Dana-Farber Cancer In­sti­tute, Dr. Nikhil Munshi and Dr. Kenneth Anderson, review the latest strategies in the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma.

In their article, the experts discuss newer ther­a­pies that appear to be promising in clin­i­cal and pre­clin­i­cal stud­ies.

According to the physicians, com­bi­na­tion ther­a­pies that spe­cif­i­cally target a patient’s ge­netic form of the dis­ease will be re­quired for long-term dis­ease con­trol and ultimately …

The American Society of Clinical Oncology will hold its 49^th annual meeting May 31 through June 4 in Chicago.

Similar to pre­vi­ous years, more than 25,000 clin­i­cal spe­cialists from all over the world are ex­pec­ted to attend the five-day meeting to discuss the cur­rent re­search in cancer treat­ment and care. The theme for this year’s meeting is “Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer.”

During the meeting, there will be pre­sen­ta­tions and seminars about all areas of cancer, in­clud­ing many focused spe­cif­i­cally …

BMI, Not Physical Activity, Associated With Risk Of Myeloma – Results of a large U.S.-based study sponsored by the AARP found that across all age groups, people with higher body mass index (BMI) were more likely to develop multiple myeloma.  However, physical activity level at any age did not impact the likelihood of developing myeloma.  Previous studies have investigated whether obesity increases a person’s risk of developing myeloma, but the results have been inconsistent.  For more information, see the study …