A team of U.S. researchers has published the results of an in­ves­ti­ga­tion into eyelid-related com­pli­ca­tions in multiple myeloma patients receiving treat­ment with Velcade or Kyprolis. Drawing on the results of their in­ves­ti­ga­tion, the authors of the new study also propose guidelines for the prevention and man­agement of such com­pli­ca­tions.

The authors report on a case series of 16 patients who devel­oped either blepharitis or chalazia after starting treat­ment with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) or Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib).

Blepharitis is the medical term for chronic inflammation of the eyelid, and a chalazion is a …

Italian researchers have found that common measures of heart and blood vessel health may predict the risk of heart-related side effects in multiple myeloma patients treated with Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib).

In particular, the researchers found that myeloma patients who ex­peri­enced heart-related side effects while being treated with Kyprolis had sig­nif­i­cantly higher blood pressure, left ventricular mass, and pulse wave velocity before starting Kyprolis treat­ment than patients who did not ex­peri­ence heart-related side effects.

Blood pressure, left ventricular mass, and pulse wave velocity are well estab­lish­ed markers of heart and blood vessel …

Results of a recent retro­spec­tive­ study show that radiation ther­apy shortly before, or shortly after, the start of drug-based treat­ment in newly diag­nosed multiple myeloma patients is asso­ci­ated with lower over­all survival.

The results are based on in­for­ma­tion for 78,095 multiple myeloma patients from the United States whose data were reported to the National Cancer Data Base be­tween 2004 and 2015.

For their retro­spec­tive­ analysis, the authors of the new study divided the 78,095 patients in their sample into two groups.

One group in­cluded the patients who were found to …

The poten­tial new multiple myeloma ther­apy ECT-001 has been designated a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA).

The RMAT desig­na­tion is very similar in sig­nif­i­cance to the better known Break­through Therapy desig­na­tion, which also is granted by the FDA. Both the RMAT and Break­through Therapy desig­na­tions are in­tended to shorten the time it takes im­por­tant new ther­a­pies to gain FDA mar­ket­ing approval.

The key dif­fer­ence be­tween the two desig­na­tions is that the RMAT desig­na­tion is for cell-based ther­a­pies, while the Break­through Therapy desig­na­tion …

The U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA) has given the go-ahead for what is likely to be the first clin­i­cal trial of an allo­geneic chi­meric an­ti­gen re­cep­tor (CAR) T-cell ther­apy for mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The poten­tial new myeloma CAR T-cell ther­apy, known as UCARTCS1, is being devel­oped by the French bio­pharma­ceu­tical com­pany Cellectis. The com­pany an­nounced earlier this week that the FDA approved its Investi­ga­tional New Drug (IND) appli­ca­tion for UCARTCS1 in late Jan­u­ary.

The IND ap­prov­al means Cellectis can move for­ward with its plans for MUNDI-01, a Phase 1 dose …

An inter­na­tional team of researchers recently found that people with MGUS who consumed fruit at least three times a week had a lower risk of pro­gress­ing to multiple myeloma than people with MGUS who consumed fruit less frequently.

The impact of higher fruit consumption on risk of pro­gres­sion was sizable. The statistical models developed by the researchers indicate that eating fruit three times or more each week cut the risk of pro­gres­sion by at least a half.

The researchers also found that the risk of devel­op­ing MGUS was about 35 …

A new study by U.S. researchers provides useful insights into the out­comes newly diag­nosed multiple myeloma patients can ex­pec­t from a common sequence of initial treat­ments.

Drawing on data for more than 240 patients treated between 2010 and 2017, the authors of the new study in­ves­ti­gate treat­ment responses and survival out­comes for newly diag­nosed myeloma patients who under­went initial treat­ment with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), and dexa­meth­a­sone, followed soon thereafter with an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant.

More than two thirds of the patients in the study also under­went either …