The 51st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) kicks off in two weeks in New Orleans. The meeting will feature presentations on the latest in peer-reviewed multiple myeloma research, December 5 through December 8.

ASH annual meetings keep hematologists up to date on research and treatment advances from the past year. According to ASH, the meeting has “a superb educational program,” “cutting-edge scientific sessions,” and presentations that “contain the latest and most exciting developments in scientific research.”

More than 20,000 doctors, scientists, and others from across the nation and world are expected to attend this year’s ASH meeting.

The Myeloma Beacon will be covering some of the meeting’s most important multiple myeloma presentations in the coming weeks.

New Combinations Using Thalidomide, Revlimid, And Velcade

Many of this year’s presentations will compare different treatment regimens using some of the most effective myeloma drugs that have come out over the past decade, such as thalidomide ^[1] (Thalomid), Revlimid ^[2] (lenalidomide), and Velcade ^[3] (bortezomib). Scientists attending the ASH meeting are continuing to develop these new drugs and combinations of drugs to further improve treatment for myeloma patients.

At the meeting, scientists will present results from clinical trials involving many different subsets of participants, including elderly patients, newly-diagnosed patients, and more.

Highlights include an update from the IFM2005-01 Phase 3 trial, with progression-free survival times for people with multiple myeloma treated with one of two induction therapies, Velcade and dexamethasone ^[4] (Decadron) or vincristine ^[5], doxorubicin ^[6] (Adriamycin), and dexamethasone.

Researchers working on the German DSMM XIa Phase 2/3 trial will present results from 300 patients treated with an induction therapy of Velcade, cyclophosphamide ^[7], and dexamethasone.

Investigators from an Italian Phase 3 study will present Velcade, melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide followed by maintenance therapy of Velcade plus thalidomide as an initial treatment for elderly people with multiple myeloma.

New Treatments Under Development

Beyond therapies using currently-available drugs, several ASH Annual Meeting presenters will unveil results from Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of new drugs in the fight against multiple myeloma.

In particular, there will be many presentations on carfilzomib ^[8], pomalidomide ^[9] (Actimid, CC-4047), and Zolinza ^[10] (vorinostat). There will also be presentations on tanespimycin ^[11], perifosine ^[12], panobinostat ^[13], NPI-0052 ^[14], CEP-18770 ^[15], Torisel ^[16] (temsirolimus), elotuzumab ^[17], Afinitor ^[18] (everolimus), and ACE-011 ^[19].

Personalized Therapy

Backing the search for new therapies are studies on multiple myeloma genes, proteins, and cells. This year’s ASH Annual Meeting will feature several sessions on molecular and genetic research. There will be new findings about the particular gene abnormalities some people with multiple myeloma have as well as how those genes might affect patient responses to different therapies. Finding out about these genes is a first step towards personalized therapy, which many experts see as the wave of the future.

Long-Term Survivors Of Multiple Myeloma

As research continues to advance, doctors can look further in the future for their patients. This year’s ASH meeting will include presentations on the few people —less than two percent of people with multiple myeloma, according to some University of Texas researchers— who have lived with multiple myeloma for more than 10 years. ASH Meeting presenters will try to characterize long-term survivors and how they were treated, in hopes of increasing that two percent figure in the future.

Social And Public Policy

ASH will also consider social and public policy issues in its meeting this year, with a physician education session on health care disparities in people with blood diseases. For multiple myeloma, specifically, researchers will give poster presentations on the out-of-pocket costs for people with multiple myeloma and on ethnic disparities in access to stem cell transplants.

For more information on ASH’s 51st Annual Meeting, including presentation abstracts, the final schedule, and information on attending, please see the American Society of Hematology ^[20] Web site.