A Phase 1 clinical trial recently reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research indicated that the novel drug combination of Velcade (bortezomib) and Zolinza (vorinostat) may be effective in patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma.

Previous preclinical results suggested that Zolinza enhances Velcade’s therapeutic effect. However, this is the first clinical trial to describe the combination of a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (Zolinza) and a proteasome inhibitor (Velcade) in heavily pre-treated relapsed or refractory myeloma patients.

The Phase 1 clinical trial monitored 23 patients with relapsed and/or refractory …

Even though doctors sometimes skip bone marrow exams during clinical trials, a Mayo Clinic study discovered that they are crucial after experimental multiple myeloma treatments. Other standard tests for multiple myeloma patients’ responses to treatments can give false positives if used alone. The study was published in the journal Blood in late July.

Whether the study’s findings will apply to patients not in clinical trials is up for debate. However, the findings are very important to doctors doing clinical trials with patients, wrote Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar, lead researcher of the study, …

On August 2, The New York Times reported that the greatest barrier to the war on cancer is the lack of volunteers for cancer treatment studies. Although multiple myeloma was not mentioned specifically in the article, clinical trials for new drugs are significant for patients of all cancer types.

Even though considerable knowledge has emerged on the genetic origins of cancer since Richard Nixon declared war on cancer, the death rates from the disease have barely changed since his presidency in the 1970s. According to Dr. Scott Ramsey, a cancer researcher and …

The U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion has approved a Phase 3 clin­i­cal trial eval­u­ating perifosine in re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients. Perifosine, also known as KRX-0401, is an oral anti-cancer agent being devel­oped by Aeterna Zentaris and licensed in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by Keryx Bio­pharma­ceuticals.

The trial, entitled “A Phase 3 Randomized Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Perifosine Added to the Combination of Bortezomib and Dexamethasone in Multiple Myeloma Patients Previously Treated with Bortezomib,” will eval­u­ate the safety and efficacy of perifosine, com­pared to placebo, when …

Phase 2 trials will begin for a new form of melphalan (Alkeran), a form of low-dose chemotherapy for multiple myeloma patients, made by CyDex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. These studies will compare the effectiveness of CyDex’s new melphalan, Propylene Glycol-Free Melphalan HCL (CDX-353), and GlaxoSmithKline’s Alkeran in multiple myeloma patients who will be undergoing stem cell transplants.

According to CyDex’s press release, the advantages of the new treatment are its one-vial packaging, gentler formula, and increased stability at room temperature. “These advantages have the potential to enable doctors to safely achieve a higher …

On May 31 at the 45th meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), researchers from Italy will report the results for a Phase 3 study currently comparing the combination Velcade (bortezomib)–melphalan (Alkeran)–prednisone–thalidomide (Thalomid) (VMPT) to Velcade-melphalan-prednisone (VMP) for the treatment of elderly, newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

Overall, the very good partial response rate for patients treated with VMPT was 55 percent, compared to 45 percent for those treated with VMP. After a median follow-up time of 14.5 months, the three-year progression-free survival was 74 percent in the …