Advances in the development of multiple myeloma drugs have had a profound impact on the way the disease is treated. Given the efficacy and relative safety of these novel agents, studies are being conducted to determine whether they may be as effective, or possibly even more effective, than an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Two such studies were presented June 6 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Results from the two studies suggest that ASCT (in which a patient’s own stem cells are transplanted after …

The combination treatment of reduced-dose Velcade (bortezomib), thalidomide (Thalomid), and dexamethasone (Decadron), abbreviated vTD, appears to be a safe and effective induction treatment for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients prior to stem cell transplantation.

The combination treatment yielded higher complete and partial remission rates, and fewer and less severe side effects, than treatment with standard dose Velcade plus dexamethasone (VD).

The vTD vs. VD findings were presented by Dr. Philippe Moreau of the University Hospital in Nantes, France, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in …

The third day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 annual meeting in Chicago was tailor-made for morn­ing people interested in mul­ti­ple myeloma.  The key myeloma-related activity on Sunday, June 6 was a morn­ing abstract session start­ing at 9:30 a.m.  Nine abstracts were pre­sented and discussed over the course of three hours.

The first two pre­sen­ta­tions dealt with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib)-related re­search.

Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the Uni­ver­sity of Turin pre­sented the re­­sults of the first study.  It com­pared two regi­mens for the treat­ment of newly diag­nosed elderly myeloma patients.  The first regi­men in­volved …

Results from an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial suggest that pomalidomide (Pomalyst) in combination with dexamethasone (Decadron) is effective and well-tolerated in patients who are resistant (refractory) to previous myeloma treatment with both Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Velcade (bortezomib). The findings were presented by Dr. Martha Lacy of the Mayo Clinic at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago on Saturday.

“We found the pomalidomide-dexamethasone regimen has significant activity in Revlimid- and Velcade-refractory myeloma,” said Dr. Lacy.

Pomalidomide is a new therapy being developed by …

Yesterday -- Saturday, June 5 -- was the sec­ond day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 annual meeting in Chicago.  It was a busy day in terms of re­search posters and pre­sen­ta­tions re­lated to mul­ti­ple myeloma.  As a re­­sult, there is a lot of ground to cover in this up­date.

Almost 40 myeloma-related posters were up for meeting attendees to view during the daytime poster session on "lymphoma and plasma cell disorders."  Among those 40-or-so posters, six con­cerned re­search done by the myeloma team at the Uni­ver­sity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), …

Friday, June 4, was the first day of this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. Most of the big multiple myeloma news of the day came out of a poster session in the afternoon.

At "poster sessions," researchers present a poster-sized summary of their research in a small, 2 meter by 1 meter cubicle. Researchers and physicians mill about, taking pictures of the posters with their cell phone cameras or taking notes. Sometimes one or more of the contributing researchers are present to answer questions. More often than …

Preliminary results from an ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial suggest that carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is well-tolerated over extended periods of ther­apy in patients who have re­lapsed or are resistant (refractory) to pre­vi­ous myeloma treat­ment.

The findings were presented Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Carfilzomib is a new ther­apy being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals and studied for the treat­ment of patients with re­lapsed or refractory myeloma. It works similarly to Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) by preventing …