Results from a recent Italian Phase 1/2 clinical trial indicate that the com­bi­na­tion of Pomalyst, cyclo­phos­pha­mide, and prednisone is effective and safe in re­lapsed and re­frac­to­ry multiple myeloma patients.

Overall, 51 percent of patients in the trial responded to the treat­ment, and the me­di­an pro­gres­sion-free survival time was 10.4 months. The me­di­an overall survival had not been reached yet; however, 69 percent of patients were alive one year after starting treat­ment.

The study participants had previously been treated with a …

Results from a recent Phase 2 trial indicate that the com­bi­na­tion of Kyprolis, Revlimid, and dexa­meth­a­sone is effective in re­lapsed multi­ple myeloma patients.

Specifically, the results show that 77 per­cent of patients responded to the treat­ment. The investigators point out the responses seen in the trial were rapid (median time to response was one month) and robust (medi­an duration of response was 22 months).

According to the investigators, the results are particularly encouraging because one-quarter of the patients were refractory …

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 …

Reovirus Strain Shows Promise As An Anti-Myeloma Agent In Preclinical Study – Canadian researchers recently found that a specific strain of the reovirus may be an effective therapy for depleting residual multiple myeloma cells from stem cells collected for stem cell trans­planta­tion. Specifically, the researchers found that the virus was able to kill multiple myeloma cells in human stem cell samples without affecting the healthy blood stem cells.  The researchers took human stem cell samples, added multiple myeloma cells to get …

A new retrospective study provides insight into the benefit the new mye­lo­ma drugs Kyprolis and Pomalyst may provide to patients who are re­sis­tant to, or cannot tolerate, both Velcade and Revlimid.

The study's results highlight how challenging it can be to find an effective treat­ment for patients who are “dual refractory” (resistant to both Velcade and Rev­li­mid).

Patients in the study who received either Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib) or Poma­lyst (poma­lido­mide, Imnovid) after becoming dual refractory had longer over­all …

Researchers recently reported updated sur­viv­al rates for multiple mye­lo­ma patients in the United States.  The results show that sur­viv­al has im­proved steadily – and markedly – from 1998 to 2009.

The average newly diagnosed myeloma patient 15 years ago, for exam­ple, was about one-third as likely as someone without myeloma to live another five years.

By the end of the 2000s, in contrast, that same myeloma patient would be 45 percent as likely as someone without myeloma to live another …

Findings from a recent study indicate that a newer method of determining kidney disease in multiple myeloma patients may be more accurate than traditional methods.

Researchers from Greece found that when they used the newer method, which tests for a protein known as cystatin-C, they were able to detect kidney damage in a higher percentage of newly diagnosed multiple mye­loma patients.

The investigators recommend that newer methods that include cystatin-C should be used instead of older methods, which rely only …