Results from a large, retrospective study conducted at City of Hope National Medical Center indicate that patients who receive stem cell transplants are at a higher risk of developing heart disease than the general population.

The researchers found that patients who underwent a donor transplant and developed graft-versus-host disease, a common transplant-related complication, were at the greatest risk of developing heart disease.

“Our findings show that the process of receiving a stem cell transplant alone increases a recipient’s risk of developing heart disease,” said the study’s lead investigator Dr. Saro Armenian from …

The results of a Phase 1 study show that Kepivance reduces the severity of melphalan-related mouth ulcers in multiple myeloma patients. Due to better tolerability, the melphalan dosage could be safely increased to 280 mg/m² prior to a stem cell transplant.

Almost two-thirds of the patients, who all had normal kidney function, had responded to the regimen at 100 days post transplant. The study investigators point out, however, that a Phase 2 trial will be necessary to better determine the efficacy of this regimen.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation …

Results from a recent retrospective study suggest that blood tests may be sufficient, and that urine tests and skeletal surveys may not be necessary, to detect most cases of relapse or disease progression after stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma.

However, the investigators point out that patients who show clinical signs of relapse/progression, such as such kidney problems or bone lesions, after stem cell transplantation may need additional types of testing, since they tend to have poorer prognoses.

The investigators note that their findings could be used to strengthen current guidelines for …

Multiple myeloma patients receiving an infusion of their own stem cells either one day or two days after undergoing treatment with high-dose melphalan demonstrate similar clinical outcomes, according to a recent U.S. study.

The study investigators conclude that a day of rest between treatment with melphalan and stem cell infusion appears not to be necessary.  Based on their findings, they recommend that melphalan administration the day before stem cell infusion should be considered as standard of care.

According to Dr. Giampaolo Talamo of the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute in Hershey, Pennsylvania, …

As you may remember from my previous column, I was admitted to the hospital for my stem cell transplant at the beginning of March (on March 5 to be exact).

I had no initial devastating reaction to the melphalan (Alkeran) that I received on the day of admission or the infusion of my stem cells over the following two days.

While my first 10 to 11 days were certainly not pleasant, they weren’t “off the charts” bad either. For the first week, I was allowed to walk in the corridors …

The results of a recent analysis suggest that the dosage of re-infused lymphocytes during an autologous stem cell transplant does not affect relapse or survival rates in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients.

“These findings would seem to indicate that, in the context of upfront autologous stem cell transplantation, the proportion of the lymphocytes re-infused is not associated with outcome. In the salvage setting, further analysis needs to be done,” said Dr. Laura Percy of University College London and lead investigator of the study.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation is …

The results of a recent Phase 1/2 study suggest that a combination of Velcade and melphalan followed by two back-to-back stem cell transplants is active and well-tolerated in multiple myeloma patients who failed to respond to their initial therapy or who have plasma cell leukemia, a highly aggressive form of myeloma.

Although the response and survival rates for this regimen did not improve upon those for previously tested regimens, the study authors contend that further studies of this novel Velcade-melphalan combination should be conducted to better understand the synergistic properties of these …