In a retrospective study of over 350 multiple myeloma patients who had a com­plete response to their initial line of ther­apy, researchers in the United States have found that a longer duration of response is asso­ci­ated with sub­stan­tially longer over­all survival.

In addi­tion, the study authors found that patients who started second-line treat­ment due to a biochemical relapse had longer over­all survival than those who started second-line treat­ment due to a symp­tomatic relapse.

A symp­tomatic relapse is one in which the patient ex­peri­ences new bone lesions, anemia, or other defining …

Earlier this month, The Myeloma Beacon published a news article sum­marizing results of a clin­i­cal trial testing the com­bi­na­tion of nelfinavir, Velcade, and dexa­meth­a­sone as a treat­ment for re­lapsed multiple myeloma.

Nelfinavir (Viracept) is an orally admin­istered drug that was approved in the 1990s for the treat­ment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syn­drome (AIDS). Nel­fin­avir has not pre­vi­ously been used for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma.

Preclinical research has suggested, however, that nelfinavir might …

Results of a recent retrospective analysis indicate that stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion may be underutilized in multiple myeloma patients 80 years of age or older.

Researchers from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found that only 0.5 per­cent (9 patients) of the 1,740 multiple myeloma patients who received an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant between January 2007 and June 2018 at their institution were 80 years or older at the time of their first trans­plant.

Yet the trans­plant out­comes seen in this small sample of patients were favorable, and …

The Myeloma Beacon yesterday published a news article summarizing results of a study investigating testos­terone levels in people recently diag­nosed with multiple myeloma. The study, which was conducted at Ohio State University, found that almost three quarters of recently diag­nosed myeloma patients have testos­terone levels that are low for their gender and age.

To understand more about the study and its implications for people with multiple myeloma, The Beacon contacted Dr. Craig Hofmeister, a myeloma specialist …

Results of a recent ob­ser­va­tion­al study in­di­cate that a sub­stan­tial majority of recently diag­nosed mul­ti­ple myeloma patients have low testos­terone levels.

Researchers at Ohio State Uni­ver­sity tested testos­terone levels in the blood of over 550 people with a plasma cell disorder. More than 90 per­cent of the study par­tic­i­pants had either mul­ti­ple myeloma, smol­der­ing mul­ti­ple myeloma, MGUS, or a plasmacytoma. Across all the study par­tic­i­pants, 74 per­cent had testos­terone levels that were low given their gender and age.

Testosterone levels were measured within six months of diag­nosis. Among the study …

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic con­firmed in a recent study that close relatives of people with multiple myeloma have a higher risk of devel­op­ing MGUS (mono­clonal gam­mop­athy of un­determined sig­nif­i­cance) than members of the general pop­u­la­tion.

In particular, the researchers found that "first-degree relatives" – parents, siblings, and children – of people with multiple myeloma were 2.4 times more likely to have MGUS than the general pop­u­la­tion.

This finding is in line with results of a pre­vi­ous Mayo Clinic study, which was smaller but in­cluded some of the same patients …

The U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA) has approved the addi­tion of a once-weekly dosing regi­men to the official pre­scrib­ing in­­for­ma­tion for Kyprolis.

In addi­tion, the FDA approved revisions in the pre­scrib­ing in­­for­ma­tion related to two safety issues: the risk of heart-related side effects due to Kyprolis, and the risk of birth defects or miscarriage in women taking or exposed to Kyprolis during preg­nancy.

The once-weekly dosing of Kyprolis is approved for use in com­bi­na­tion with dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) in multiple myeloma patients who have re­lapsed after one to three prior …