As The Beacon continues its ‘ASH Preview’ series about myeloma re­search that will be presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in early December, this article focuses on novel im­muno­therapy approaches that are being studied in clinical trials.

Abstracts for the ASH presentations are now available, although many contain pre­lim­i­nary information that will be updated at the meet­ing.

The Beacon’s ASH preview articles are intended to highlight the meet­ing’s most interesting myeloma-related studies.

The first several of the preview articles, which were published over the past …

Findings from a recent Phase 2 clinical study of a multiple myeloma vaccine indicate that the vaccine deepens responses following autologous stem cell transplantation.

Almost half of the patients in the trial achieved a complete response and almost another third achieved a very good partial response after vaccination.

The investigators state that these response rates compare favorably to initial therapy with Revlimid (lenalidomide) or Velcade (bortezomib) followed by stem cell transplantation.

Based on their results, the researchers believe the vaccine used in this trial may be beneficial for …

In a recent review article pub­lished in the journal Clinical Cancer Re­search, two myeloma experts from the Dana-Farber Cancer In­sti­tute, Dr. Nikhil Munshi and Dr. Kenneth Anderson, review the latest strategies in the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma.

In their article, the experts discuss newer ther­a­pies that appear to be promising in clin­i­cal and pre­clin­i­cal stud­ies.

According to the physicians, com­bi­na­tion ther­a­pies that spe­cif­i­cally target a patient’s ge­netic form of the dis­ease will be re­quired for long-term dis­ease con­trol and ultimately a cure.

Some Historical Perspective

In their review article, Drs. Munshi and …

Treatment strategies that com­bine Revlimid with newer types of anti-tumor agents may be ef­fec­tive for re­lapsed and re­frac­tory mul­ti­ple myeloma, ac­cord­ing to myeloma experts who reviewed re­­sults from stud­ies of these new com­bi­na­tions.

Refractory and re­lapsed mul­ti­ple myeloma is notoriously dif­fi­cult to treat. For every remission period that is achieved, relapse typ­i­cally arises sooner and with greater re­sis­tance to pre­vi­ously used ther­a­pies. These patients have lim­ited op­tions for ther­apy.

In examining trials that tested new ther­a­pies in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), the authors of the review hoped to find the po­ten­tial …

This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, which is being held in Chicago, began on Friday and goes through tomorrow. How­ever, to­day is the last day with any myeloma-related sessions.

Several myeloma-related oral pre­sen­ta­tions were given this morn­ing and were summarized in an up­date pub­lished earlier to­day (see re­lated Beacon news).

This afternoon featured a poster session in which im­por­tant new re­search findings were summarized on posters throughout a large conference hall.

The stud­ies pre­sented this afternoon were on a wide variety of myeloma-related topics ranging from new treat­ments …

The 48th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will take place Friday, June 1, through Tuesday, June 5, in Chicago.

More than 25,000 clin­i­cal spe­cialists from all over the world are ex­pec­ted to attend the five-day meeting to discuss the cur­rent re­search in cancer treat­ment and care. The theme for this year’s meeting is “Collaborating to Conquer Cancer.”

The meeting will in­clude many pre­sen­ta­tions and seminars focused spe­cif­i­cally on mul­ti­ple myeloma. The ASCO website cur­rently lists nearly 50 myeloma-based pre­sen­ta­tions (included under “lymphoma and plasma cell disorders”).

The …