Edinburgh (Press Release) - Myeloma UK has opened MUK four to patient recruitment. It is the fifth trial in the last two years to open in the Myeloma UK Clinical Trial Network (CTN) which provides access to prom­is­ing myeloma drugs and aims to accelerate the process for approving new drugs and making them avail­able on the NHS.

MUK four is a Phase II trial to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of vorinostat in com­bi­na­tion with Velcade® (bor­tez­o­mib) and dexa­meth­a­sone (VVD) in patients with re­lapsed or re­lapsed refractory myeloma. MUK four will recruit up to 68 patients. It has opened at The Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH), London and is due to open in a number of other hospitals across the UK in the coming weeks.

Myeloma UK Chief Executive, Eric Low said,

“MUK four will give patients with re­lapsed or re­lapsed refractory myeloma access to vorinostat in com­bi­na­tion with an already powerful anti-myeloma treat­ment com­bi­na­tion: Velcade and dexa­meth­a­sone.”

MUK four Chief Investigator, Dr Faith Davies from the RMH said,

“HDAC inhibitors like vorinostat are showing poten­tial in the treat­ment of myeloma. MUK four will provide an indi­ca­tion of the effectiveness of vorinostat in a setting that is relevant for UK patients. This is one of only a limited number of clin­i­cal trials involving vorinostat in the world and will have a sig­nif­i­cant impact on how vorinostat is used for myeloma patients in the future.”

Study detail

Vorinostat is an oral inhibitor of class I and II histone deacetylase (HDAC).

Vorinostat works by blocking the actions of proteins called histone deacetylases which are needed to enable cells to divide. Myeloma cells rely heavily on histone deacetylases to work properly for their growth and sur­viv­al. Inhibiting histone deacetylases causes the myeloma cells to die.

Treatment consists of up to eight cycles of vorinostat in com­bi­na­tion with Velcade and dexa­meth­a­sone, fol­lowed by single agent vorinostat main­te­nance. Treatment will con­tinue until disease pro­gres­sion or un­ac­cept­able toxicity.

For more in­for­ma­tion about MUK four or if you have any questions about the Myeloma UK Clinical Trial Net­work please call the Myeloma Infoline on 0800 980 3332.

Source: Myeloma UK.