One of the issues that a physician may consider when deciding how to treat a myeloma patient is the impact different treatment options may have on the pa­tient’s bones.

If a patient already has extensive bone damage resulting from multiple myelo­ma, a physician may lean more toward treatments that are believed to halt, or even counteract, the bone destruction the patient has been experiencing.

Previous research has shown that Velcade (bortezomib) may be able to help rebuild the bones …

Results from a recent study conducted at the Mayo Clinic suggest that the de­gree of complete response a multiple myeloma patient achieves fol­low­ing a stem cell transplant may affect their survival.

In particular, the Mayo researchers found that the five-year overall survival rate was nearly twice as high for patients who achieved a stringent com­plete re­sponse (80 percent), compared to those who achieved a com­plete response (53 percent) or near com­plete response (47 percent).

However, the researchers point out that …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted in Korea indicate that a combination of dex­a­meth­a­sone, cyclo­phos­phamide, etoposide, and cisplatin may be a suitable bridging therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma patients who previously received treatment with novel agents.

Most patients responded to the combination as salvage therapy or achieved stable disease, but the response rates were not durable.  Therefore, the researchers suggested that the combination might serve better as bridging therapy - to stabilize the myeloma until the patients receive further …

Results from a small retrospective analysis conducted in Japan indicate that injection site reactions from subcutaneous (under the skin) injections of Velcade (bor­tezo­mib) are more likely to occur during the first cycle of treatment than in later cycles.

A third of patients in the study developed injection site re­ac­tions – such as swell­ing, redness, or itchi­ness – during the first cycle of treatment.  However, the share of patients experiencing such reactions dropped to one fifth during later cycles.

In the …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted at the Mayo Clinic show that certain newly diagnosed myeloma patients can achieve deep responses and long-term disease control through extended treatment with Revlimid and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

Among a large sample of patients who were initially treated with Revlimid and dex­a­meth­a­sone after diagnosis – and who did not undergo an early stem cell transplant – one fifth received the two-drug therapy for more than three years.

Almost two thirds of these patients who were treated for …

A new retrospective study by Emory University researchers may stir de­bate about the best way to treat high-risk myeloma patients.

The researchers investigated treating high-risk myeloma patients for up to three years with a combination of Revlimid, Velcade, and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

The extended three-drug ther­a­py, which the authors describe as a com­bined con­sol­i­da­tion/​main­te­nance regimen, was initiated after the pa­tients had re­ceived a stem cell transplant.  The patients' transplants were car­ried out soon after completion of the first (induction) treat­ment reg­i­men fol­low­ing …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic show that overall survival for multiple myeloma patients treated at that cancer center has improved significantly between 2001 and 2010.

Patients diag­nosed between 2001 and 2005 had a median overall survival of 4.6 years, while those diag­nosed more recently – be­tween 2006 and 2010 – had an improved median overall survival of 6.1 years, or almost one-third higher.

In addition, the share of patients dying within a year of …