Carfilzomib is well tolerated and highly active in both newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients as well as re­lapsed and treat­ment-resistant patients, according to the results of two recent clinical trials that were presented at the American Society of Hematology 2010 annual meeting in Orlando earlier this month.

These results further underscore car­filz­o­mib’s activity in multiple myeloma.  Several studies with promising results were also reported in poster sessions during the annual meeting (see related Beacon news).

Like Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), which is being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, is a …

Patients under age 65 who undergo autologous stem cell transplantation early have significantly higher survival rates than patients who receive continued treatment with Revlimid and dexamethasone, according to a retrospective analysis of a recent clinical trial.

However, Dr. David Siegel, from the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and lead investigator of the study, pointed out that these results need to be interpreted cautiously, because the patients were not randomly selected to receive either an early or late stem cell transplant.

The results do suggest, however, that early transplantation may be …

The re­­sults of three on­go­ing clin­i­cal trials sug­gest that elotuzumab in com­bi­na­tion with either Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) or Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) plus low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is ef­fec­tive and well-tolerated in patients who have re­lapsed or have treat­ment-resistant mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The findings were pre­sented at the American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando last week.

Elotuzumab is a new drug being devel­oped by Facet Biotech and Bristol-Myers Squibb as a po­ten­tial treat­ment for mul­ti­ple myeloma. It recog­nizes and binds to unique pro­teins on the surface …

Pomalidomide has demonstrated efficacy in heavily pre-treated multiple myeloma patients who have been treated with – or are even refractory to – Revlimid and Velcade.

Three studies of the use of pomalidomide (Pomalyst) in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients were presented yesterday at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Orlando.

Pomalidomide, which is being developed by the pharmaceutical company Celgene, is an immunomodulatory agent that induces the immune system to destroy myeloma cells. It belongs to the same class of drugs as Revlimid (lenalidomide) and thalidomide (Thalomid). …

According to a recent study, myeloma patients with the chromosomal abnormalities del(1p21) or del(17p) had shorter time to disease progression and lower overall survival rates while taking Revlimid-dexamethasone therapy than patients without those abnormalities.

Chromosomal abnormalities result from structural changes of the chromosome.  These changes may occur through deletions, insertions, duplications, or movement of chromosomal regions. Chromosomal abnormalities are considered high-risk factors in multiple myeloma and have been an area of intensive research because they may render patients less responsive to certain treatments.

A series of prior studies have investigated the outcome …

A small study in Japan showed that relapsed multiple myeloma patients treated simultaneously with Velcade and itraconazole experienced greater Velcade-induced side effects, such as lower platelet levels and nerve damage to the extremities, than patients who did not receive itraconazole. 

The researchers recommended that multiple myeloma patients receiving both Velcade (bortezomib) and itraconazole (Sporanox) be closely monitored for Velcade-induced side effects throughout the duration of their treatment. 

However, according to Dr. Paul Richardson of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston the results of the study should be interpreted cautiously. “Patients from …

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 …