Opinion: A Multiple Myeloma Patient’s Viewpoint On Randomized Clinical Trials – In the latest article ^[1] published in the opinion section of The Myeloma Beacon, Dr. Jim Omel, a physician and multiple myeloma patient, wrote about how the clinical trial process could be changed to encourage greater par­tic­i­pa­tion among myeloma and other cancer patients. To receive a copy of all opinion articles when they are published or if you are interested in contributing an opinion piece, send an email to .

FDA Puts Carfilzomib On Fast Track For Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma – On January 31, Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fast-track designation for carfilzomib ^[2], a second-generation proteasome inhibitor that has shown promising anti-myeloma activity as a single agent and in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid ^[3] (lena­lido­mide) and low-dose dexamethasone ^[4] (Decadron). The fast-track designation accelerates the review and approval process of drugs developed to treat serious or life-threatening illnesses. Onyx can now submit car­filz­o­mib’s New Drug Application to the FDA on a rolling basis. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please see the Onyx Pharmaceuticals ^[5] press release.

Investigational Drug Siltuximab Enhances Melphalan Efficacy In Multiple Myeloma Cells – Pre-clinical results showed that the mono­clonal anti­body siltuximab (CNTO 328), which is being developed by Centocor Ortho Biotech, enhanced the activity of melphalan ^[6] (Alkeran). Siltuximab increased mel­phalan’s toxicity to myeloma cells and neutralized interleukin-6, a protein that promotes growth and drug resistance of myeloma cells. Several clinical trials ^[7] studying siltuximab in myeloma patients are ongoing. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please see the study in the British Journal of Haematology ^[8] (abstract).

Investigational Drug BI 2536 Is Active Against Multiple Myeloma Cells – Results from a recently published study show that BI 2536, which is being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim, induces cell death in multiple myeloma cells. BI 2536 inhibits an enzyme called polo-like kinase 1, which regulates the cell cycle and has been asso­ci­ated with the devel­op­ment of many cancers.  Additionally, BI 2536 increased the efficacy of Velcade ^[9] (bor­tez­o­mib) and dexa­meth­a­sone in these cell lines. The study authors concluded that the results suggest BI 2536 should be studied in clinical trials for multiple myeloma. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please see the study in the journal Experimental Hematology ^[10] (abstract).