[Kevin]

Valproic acid as multiple myeloma treatment?

by Kevin on Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:47 pm

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever heard of valproic acid being used to treat multiple myeloma?

I'm not a biologist or biochemist. But I did some checking, and there seems to be some research suggesting that valproic acid could be a potential myeloma treatment. For example,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19093163
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17273758
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15823734

Valproic acid is already approved as a treatment for epilepsy. The brand name is Depakene, but I think there also are generic versions of the drug available.

The Wikipedia article about valproic acid even mentions that it's been considered as a myeloma treatment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valproic_acid

Is there any further evidence that valproic acid is effective, or ineffective, as a treatment for multiple myeloma? What about the side effects?

Thanks!