The initial results from three early-phase clinical trials suggest that the investi­gational drug MLN9708, either alone or in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid and dexa­methasone, may be an effective treat­ment for both newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients and patients with re­lapsed and/or treat­ment-resistant disease.

The findings from the three trials were presented earlier this week at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego.

MLN9708 (ixazomib) belongs to the same class of drugs as Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), called proteasome inhibitors, and it is being developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the same com­pany that developed …

The most recent re­­sults of a Phase 2 clin­i­cal trial in­di­cate that elotuzumab in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid and dexa­meth­a­sone is safe and ef­fec­tive in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory mul­ti­ple myeloma patients.

Dr. Sagar Lonial from the Winship Cancer In­sti­tute at the Emory Uni­ver­sity School of Medicine in Atlanta pre­sented the up­dated Phase 2 re­­sults at the American Society for He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego on Monday.

The preceding Phase 1 trial of elotuzumab showed that 82 per­cent of re­lapsed / refractory myeloma patients had a partial re­sponse or better to the drug in …

Yesterday, the third day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego, was the busiest day of the meeting for people interested in multiple myeloma.  Myeloma-related presentations filled the entire morning and afternoon, and sometimes there were even multiple relevant presentations going on simultaneously.

The morning presentations about therapies combining current myeloma drugs will be covered in this update.  Morning presentations about potential new myeloma therapies were covered in an update published earlier today, and presentations from the rest of the day will be covered in …

Yesterday was the third day of the American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego, and it was packed full with mul­ti­ple myeloma-related pre­sen­ta­tions. Presentations started early in the morn­ing and con­tinued through the afternoon.

The morn­ing pre­sen­ta­tions about po­ten­tial new myeloma ther­a­pies will be covered in this up­date, and pre­sen­ta­tions from the rest of the day will be covered in addi­tional up­dates.

MLN9708

During the first talk of the day, Dr. Paul Richardson from the Dana-Farber Cancer In­sti­tute in Boston pre­sented re­­sults from a Phase 1 study of …

Results from a number of multiple myeloma studies were presented yesterday during the second day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting in San Diego.

Predicting Response To Immunomodulatory Drugs

During an oral presentation and a poster presentation yesterday, researchers discussed the role of the protein cereblon in the treatment of myeloma.  Results from one study (abstract) in myeloma cell lines suggested that cereblon plays a key role in whether multiple myeloma patients respond to the immunomodulatory drugs Revlimid (lenalidomide) and pomalidomide.  Another study (abstract) …

Yesterday was the first day of the American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) 2011 annual meeting, which is being held in San Diego.

Although the day featured no oral pre­sen­ta­tions of new myeloma-related re­search, it started with an in­ter­est­ing educational session focused on mul­ti­ple myeloma.

There also were a num­ber of poster pre­sen­ta­tions during the day summarizing im­por­tant new re­search findings.

The educational session in the morn­ing featured three pre­sen­ta­tions by lead­ing myeloma spe­cialists.

Induction Therapy And Maintenance Treatment

The first pre­sen­ta­tion was by Dr. Donna Reece of the Princess Margaret Hospital in …

The 53^rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) will be held this Saturday, December 10, through Tuesday, December 13, in San Diego.

Over 20,000 people are expected to attend this year’s meeting, where experts from around the world will gather to discuss current research regarding the diagnosis and treatment of various blood diseases, including multiple myeloma.

The ASH meeting is one of three annual scientific meetings where important new myeloma-related research findings are usually reported.   The other two key conferences are the annual meetings of the American Society of …