A recent study conducted in China demonstrated that the addition of Velcade to initial thalidomide-dexamethasone treatment confers a low risk of blood clot complications to newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients.

The researchers suggested that medication for the prevention of blood clots is not needed in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients receiving the combination treatment. However this recommendation was limited to Chinese patients only because the study was conducted in a population of Chinese patients.  

The findings cannot be conclusively applied to other ethnicities because the rate of complications resulting from blood …