The 51st annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) started earlier to­day, May 29, and will go through June 2 in Chicago.

Approximately 30,000 physicians and re­searchers from all over the world are ex­pec­ted to attend the five-day meeting to discuss cur­rent re­search in cancer treat­ment and care.

During the meeting, there will be pre­sen­ta­tions about all types of cancer, in­clud­ing many pre­sen­ta­tions focused spe­cif­i­cally on mul­ti­ple myeloma. In fact, more than 90 myeloma-related stud­ies are scheduled to be pre­sented, in one form or another, in con­nec­tion with the …

A new retrospective study by Emory University researchers may stir de­bate about the best way to treat high-risk myeloma patients.

The researchers investigated treating high-risk myeloma patients for up to three years with a combination of Revlimid, Velcade, and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

The extended three-drug ther­a­py, which the authors describe as a com­bined con­sol­i­da­tion/​main­te­nance regimen, was initiated after the pa­tients had re­ceived a stem cell transplant.  The patients' transplants were car­ried out soon after completion of the first (induction) treat­ment reg­i­men fol­low­ing diagnosis.

Some, but not all, of the patients also received the Revlimid-Velcade-dexamethasone …

Results from a small Phase 2 study conducted in Italy demon­strate that se­quen­tial treatment with novel agents and au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion with intermediate-dose melphalan is a safe and ef­fec­tive treat­ment for older, newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

“This is the first study with a sequential approach of Velcade in­duc­tion, autol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion, and Revlimid main­te­nance,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the University of Torino in Italy.

The regimen was safest in patients under the age 70; patients aged 70 years and older ex­peri­enced more treatment-related side effects …

Results from a recent European Phase 3 clinical trial indicate that a few months of treatment with Velcade may improve the outcomes of multiple myeloma patients who recently underwent a stem cell transplant.

Specifically, patients who received Velcade (bortezomib) following transplantation, which is known as “consolidation therapy,” had a longer median progression-free survival than those who did not receive additional therapy after transplantation.  Their response to transplantation was also more likely to improve with Velcade consolidation therapy.

However, the researchers found that Velcade consolidation therapy appeared to be mainly effective …

The results of a small, retrospective study indicate that donor stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion may be effective and well tolerated in multiple myeloma patients who have a deep response to initial therapy.

Specifically, the researchers found that for the majority of patients, stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion deepened their initial response to a complete or stringent com­plete response.

Two years following transplantation, three-quarters of the patients were disease-free, which according to the researchers shows that donor transplantation may be a good tool for the pre­ven­tion of early relapse and progression of the disease.

However, the …

The results of an Italian Phase 3 study show that consolidation therapy with a combination of Velcade, thalidomide, and dexamethasone is more effective in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients than treatment with thalidomide and dexamethasone alone.

Specifically, the three-drug regimen led to higher rates of complete responses, as well as longer progression-free survival, compared to the two-drug regimen.

“Analyses performed in our study demonstrate that VTD [Velcade-thalidomide-dexamethasone] consolidation therapy significantly contributed to improved clinical outcomes,” said lead study investigator Dr. Michele Cavo from the Seragnoli Institute of Hematology in Bologna, Italy.

Preliminary …