Kyprolis Is Now Available In The United States – The newly approved myeloma treat­ment Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib) is available on the U.S. market starting today. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kyprolis on July 20 for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma patients who have received at least two prior ther­a­pies (see related Beacon news). Physicians can now prescribe Kyprolis to myeloma patients throughout the U.S. To learn more about the recent FDA approval of Kyprolis and the drug's launch, please see The Beacon’s detailed questions and answers article published last week.

Exelixis Starts Clinical Trial Of Cabozantinib In Patients With Relapsed Or Refractory Myeloma – Exelixis, a bio­pharma­ceu­tical com­pany based in South San Francisco, announced last week the start of a Phase 1 trial of cabozantinib (XL184) in multiple myeloma. Cabozantinib is a com­­pound that inhibits the activity of two key enzymes, at least one of which is known to promote the growth of myeloma cells. The study will in­ves­ti­gate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary activity of cabozantinib in patients with re­lapsed or refractory multiple myeloma with bone disease. Cabozantinib is also being in­ves­ti­gated as treat­ment for several other types of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, and thyroid cancer. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please see the Exelixis press release and the clinical trial description.

KW-2478 Plus Velcade Shows Potent Anti-Myeloma Activity In Preclinical Study - Results from a recent preclinical study indicate that a com­bi­na­tion of the investigational drug KW-2478 with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) has potent anti-myeloma activity. KW-2478 belongs to a class of anti-myeloma drugs called Hsp90 inhibitors and is being developed by Japanese drug manu­­fac­­turer Kyowa Hakko Kirin. Other Hsp90 inhibitors which have been in­ves­ti­gated as potential myeloma treat­ments include ganetespib and tanespimycin.  In the recent study involving KW-2478, researchers found that the drug increased the ability of Velcade to kill myeloma cells. In mice, the com­bi­na­tion also reduced bone lesions and mono­clonal protein levels (M-spike) more effectively than either drug alone. According to the study investigators, these results strongly suggest that the com­bi­na­tion could be an effective treat­ment for multiple myeloma patients. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please refer to the study in the Blood Cancer Journal (abstract).

Purifying Plasma Cells From Bone Marrow Samples May Facilitate Detection of Chromosomal Abnormalities – Findings from a recent Dutch study suggest that chromosomal ab­nor­mal­i­ties in cancerous plasma cells may be easier to detect in purified plasma cell samples from bone marrow samples, as compared to unpurified (whole) marrow samples from myeloma patients. Previous studies have shown that certain chromosomal ab­nor­mal­i­ties in cancerous plasma cells can predict poorer myeloma prognosis. In this study, researchers could identify plasma cell chromosomal ab­nor­mal­i­ties in 96 per­cent of purified samples from bone marrow samples, as compared to 61 per­cent in unpurified samples. They argued that the low frequency of plasma cells in unpurified bone marrow samples hindered the detection of ab­nor­mal­i­ties. The researchers found that genetic material isolated from purified plasma cells could also be analyzed by molecular techniques to yield addi­tional in­­for­ma­tion about each patient's myeloma. For more in­­for­ma­tion, please see the study in Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer (abstract).