A Phase 2 trial of Hycamtin, cyclophosphamide, and melphalan showed that the drug combination is a safe and effective treatment regimen for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma or patients in first remission. The combination, followed by stem cell transplantation, resulted in an overall response rate of 85 percent and a four-year overall survival rate of 66 percent, making this drug combination comparable in efficacy to treatment with melphalan alone.

High-dose melphalan (Alkeran) is the standard conditioning treatment …

A recent study showed that relapsed and therapy-resistant multiple myeloma patients with an abnormality on chromosome 1, called 1q21 gain, did not respond as well to single-agent Velcade treatment in comparison to patients who lack this chromosomal abnormality.

The study found that the median duration of response, progression-free survival, and overall survival were significantly lower among patients with the 1q21 gain abnormality.

Chromosomal abnormalities are the result of unbalanced changes to the structure of a chromosome, which may occur through …

A Phase 2 clinical trial showed that plitidepsin alone had limited efficacy in heavily pretreated relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients. However, plitidepsin in combination with dexamethasone was effective enough to warrant further study. Plitidepsin alone or in combination with dexamethasone was well tolerated.

“Plitidepsin has not shown very significant efficacy when used in monotherapy,” explained Dr. María Mateos, the lead investigator of this study. “Nevertheless, in the present study we have seen some hints of activity in very heavily …

A recent study showed that initial treatment of multiple myeloma with a combination of cyclophosphamide and thalidomide negatively impacts a patient’s ability to collect stem cells for transplant.

Physicians were able to collect almost 50 percent fewer stem cells from patients treated with cyclophosphamide and thalidomide (Thalomid) compared to patients treated with other commonly used myeloma treatments. This combination therapy may prevent stem cells from moving from the bone marrow into the circulating blood, where they are harvested …

A Phase 1 study found the four-drug combination of Revlimid-Velcade-dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide (RVCD) to be safe and effective in newly diagnosed, previously untreated multiple myeloma patients.

These results suggest that adding cyclophosphamide as the fourth drug in the treatment therapy may be just as or more effective than traditional two- and three-drug combinations. The study also determined that 500 mg/m² cyclophosphamide, the highest dose tested, could safely be used in the RVCD drug combination.

Previous studies have shown that three-drug combinations …

The results of a recent study suggest that consecutive low-dose melphalan and high-dose melphalan treatment combined with autologous stem cell transplants is an effective treatment for multiple myeloma patients with manageable side effects.

“The low-dose melphalan step led to complete response and very good partial response rates similar to those of combinations containing Velcade and steroids at a fraction of the cost,” wrote Dr. Nicolas Novitzky, the study’s lead author, in an email to The Myeloma Beacon.

Melphalan (Alkeran) is …

A statistical analysis of two Phase 3 trials found relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients who achieved complete remission and very good partial response to Revlimid and dexamethasone combination treatment had higher overall survival rates and longer times to disease progression compared to patients who only achieved partial response.

The analysis also showed that patients’ response to Revlimid and dexamethasone improved over time with continuous treatment.

The authors of the analysis therefore suggested continuing treatment in patients who achieved partial …