Articles tagged with: Dexamethasone
Opinion»
As I wrestle with the early treatment phase of this disease, it is my hope that by sharing my experiences I can provide some valuable insights to readers who are newly diagnosed and beginning treatment.
But before sharing in this column what I have been through as I finish the fifth cycle of treatment, I have two confessions to make.
First, treatment is tough, really tough -- far tougher than I ever imagined it would be. My approach to treatment was naively ignorant despite warnings from my doctor and all that I …
News»
One of the issues that a physician may consider when deciding how to treat a myeloma patient is the impact different treatment options may have on the patient’s bones.
If a patient already has extensive bone damage resulting from multiple myeloma, a physician may lean more toward treatments that are believed to halt, or even counteract, the bone destruction the patient has been experiencing.
Previous research has shown that Velcade (bortezomib) may be able to help rebuild the bones of myeloma patients (see related Beacon news).
However, there is currently …
NewsFlash »
Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted in Korea indicate that a combination of dexamethasone, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and cisplatin may be a suitable bridging therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma patients who previously received treatment with novel agents.
Most patients responded to the combination as salvage therapy or achieved stable disease, but the response rates were not durable. Therefore, the researchers suggested that the combination might serve better as bridging therapy - to stabilize the myeloma until the patients receive further treatment, such as stem cell transplantation or access to investigational therapies in clinical trials.
These results are particularly relevant for multiple myeloma patients in countries where access to novel agents, such as thalidomide (Thalomid), Velcade (bortezomib), and Revlimid (lenalidomide), is restricted, and also patients for whom novel agents no longer work.
The retrospective analysis was based on data from 59 patients who received dexamethasone (Decadron), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), etoposide (VP-16), and cisplatin, commonly referred to as DCEP, as salvage therapy between 2006 and 2013. The median patient age was 58 years, and patients had received a median of three prior therapies, including at least one novel agent such as thalidomide, Revlimid, or Velcade.
Overall, 45 percent of patients responded to the treatment, with 2 percent achieving a complete response, 2 percent a very good partial response, and 41 percent a partial response. An additional 16 percent of patients achieved a minor response and 20 percent had stable disease.
The median progression-free survival was 3.7 months and the median overall survival was 8 months, which according to the researchers indicate that a durable response is hard to achieve with this regimen. Based on these findings, the researchers conclude that DCEP may be more suitable as a bridging therapy by stabilizing the disease for the next treatment.
The most common severe side effects were blood-related and included low white blood cell counts (92 percent), low platelet counts (76 percent), and low red blood cell counts (71 percent). Overall, 62 percent of patients discontinued treatment due to side effects.
The treatment-related death rate was notable at 15 percent. Nearly all of the treatment-related deaths were due to infection in patients with low white blood cell counts.
The researchers therefore recommend that patients being treated with DCEP also receive growth factors to increase blood cell counts and reduce the chance of infection.
For more information, please refer to the study in the Annals of Hematology (abstract).
News»
One of the key presentations during the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in New Orleans was one that summarized initial results of a large international Phase 3 clinical trial known as the "FIRST", or MM-020, trial.
The trial results show that continuous administration of Revlimid and dexamethasone improves response rates as well as progression-free and overall survival in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are older or not eligible for stem cell transplantation.
Specifically, the researchers found that the overall response rate was highest (75 percent) among patients who received …
News»
Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted at the Mayo Clinic show that certain newly diagnosed myeloma patients can achieve deep responses and long-term disease control through extended treatment with Revlimid and dexamethasone.
Among a large sample of patients who were initially treated with Revlimid and dexamethasone after diagnosis – and who did not undergo an early stem cell transplant – one fifth received the two-drug therapy for more than three years.
Almost two thirds of these patients who were treated for more than three years achieved at least a very good partial response …
News»
More than twenty presentations about studies involving Pomalyst were presented at this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), which took place last month.
Several of these presentations were about the Phase 3 clinical trial that found Pomalyst (pomalidomide, Imnovid) plus low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) significantly improved overall survival of relapsed and refractory myeloma patients compared to high-dose dexamethasone alone (see related Beacon news). This is the study that led to the approval of pomalidomide in Europe, where it is marketed under the brand name Imnovid (see …
News»
Monday was the third day of this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The day was filled with oral presentation sessions from early in the morning until into the evening.
In the afternoon and early evening, there were six oral presentation sessions devoted solely to multiple myeloma and a number of other myeloma-related presentations scattered about the afternoon. The topics of these presentations ranged from the biology of myeloma to treatment options for newly diagnosed, relapsed and refractory, and older patients.
This ASH update highlights most of the oral …