Statistics compiled by The Myeloma Beacon show there is sub­stan­tial variation across U.S. cancer centers in the num­ber of au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plants the centers per­form each year for people with mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The five busiest U.S. centers in terms of au­tol­o­gous trans­plants for mul­ti­ple myeloma carried out an average of 236 such trans­plants per center in 2017, the latest year for which data are pub­licly avail­able. That is a pace equal to almost one trans­plant per weekday at each of the five centers.

In contrast, across the other 134 other …

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 is for …

A happy Saturday to you, myeloma world.

We hope your weekend has gotten off to an excellent start.

Today's edition of Myeloma Morning focuses primarily on a study that was included in yesterday's list of new myeloma-related research. The study summarizes trends in allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplantation in Europe over the last two decades.

Although the study focuses on European trends, we believe it should be of interest to Beacon readers regardless where they may be. With the global exchange of information related to multiple myeloma, trends in Europe are not …

Good morning, myeloma world.

It's been a very chilly morning here at Myeloma Morning Headquarters. After teasing us with summerlike temperatures the past few weeks, Mother Nature has decided she's not done with the part of the thermometer below freezing.

We'll be focusing on two new research studies in today's report.

The first study looks at outcomes of allogeneic (donor) stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion for multiple myeloma. Using outcomes from a single U.S. treatment center, the study authors find that whether or not an allo­geneic trans­plant patient had high-risk disease at diagnosis did …

A belated good morning to you, myeloma world.

How has your Friday been so far? Has April Fools' Day brought joy, con­ster­na­tion, or a bit of both to your life?

We were caught off guard this morning by some news that came out just as we were about to wrap up this edition of Myeloma Morning. But the news, which con­cerns Darzalex, is good, so we definitely won't be com­plaining.

Here are today's myeloma-related headlines.

First, Darzalex (daratumuab) is a big step closer to being approved as a new myeloma treat­ment …

This year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) began yesterday morning in San Francisco.

Myeloma-related presentations were made during several sessions throughout the day.

The day started out with a session designed to better educate physicians about multiple myeloma and how to treat the disease.

Two sessions of oral presentations devoted solely to multiple myeloma ran simultaneously in the middle of the day. One of the sessions focused on the biology of the disease. The other one included presentations on new myeloma ther­a­pies for both newly diagnosed and re­lapsed and …

Significant improvements in donor stem cell trans­planta­tion have been made in recent years. As a result, donor trans­planta­tion – a procedure during which a patient receives stem cells from a healthy donor – has become safer and typically more successful for patients.

The majority of patients undergoing donor stem cell trans­planta­tion receive stem cells from unrelated donors. In these cases, a close match between donor and recipient tissue types is known to play an important important role in trans­plant outcomes.

A group of German researchers last fall published results of a large …