Today was the third day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, and the morning was filled with oral presentations about important myeloma-related studies.  Most of the talks were about potential new anti-myeloma drugs.

This update summarizes the presentations about panobinostat (Farydak), obatoclax, Treanda (bendamustine), and MLN9708 (ixazomib), which are all being developed as potential multiple myeloma treat­ments.  In addi­tion, the update includes a recap of a presenta­tion about the safety of long-term bis­phos­pho­nate use.

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This past Sunday was the third day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2011 annual meeting, and it was a particularly busy day for meeting attendees interested in multiple myeloma.

The Beacon published an update yesterday covering two sets of presentations made at Sunday’s oral session about multiple myeloma.  This article covers the other set of presentations, which was about myeloma bone disease, as well as material from an afternoon education session focused on myeloma.

Myeloma Bone Disease

The …

According to the results of a large Phase 3 clinical trial, Zometa increases overall and progression-free survival rates among multiple myeloma patients compared to Bonefos and is more effective in preventing bone loss and fractures.  Additonally, the trial found that inclusion of thalidomide as part of an induction regimen further improved responses. 

Dr. Gareth Morgan of the Royal Marsden Hospital in London presented the results, recently published in The Lancet (abstract), at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando today.

“I think it is incredibly compelling that the …

In a recent study, treatment with Zometa (zoledronic acid) increased overall and progression-free survival rates among multiple myeloma patients compared to Bonefos (clodronate). Additionally, Zometa was more effective in preventing bone loss and fractures. The results were presented June 6 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago by Dr. Gareth Morgan of the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

Bone is in a constant balance of being broken down and being replenished. A perfect balance keeps a person’s bones strong. However, in multiple myeloma patients, this …

The majority of multiple myeloma patients suffer from bone disease, and drugs called bisphosphonates are commonly used to help improve bone health in myeloma patients. Dr. David Roodman of the University of Pittsburgh discussed the current use of bisphosphonates in multiple myeloma during an education session on June 7 at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Treatment of myeloma bone disease is important, since 20 percent of multiple myeloma patients experience a fracture at the time of their myeloma diagnosis, and 60 percent of multiple myeloma patients experience a …