A group of Italian researchers recently showed that consolidation therapy with Velcade, thalidomide, and dexamethasone was more effective than consolidation therapy with thalidomide and dexamethasone alone.

In particular, they found that the Velcade-based consolidation therapy yielded more high-quality responses, such as complete responses, and a high rate of molecular remission, in which patients showed no signs of remaining myeloma cells.

Dr. Michele Cavo from the Seragnoli Institute of Hematology in Bologna, Italy, presented the results at the 16^th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in London last week.

In the study, …

Results of a recent study show that the presence of residual cancer cells and chromosomal abnormalities are strong predictors of early relapse in multiple myeloma patients who achieve a complete response after undergoing stem cell transplantation.

The results were presented last week by Dr. Bruno Paiva, from the Salamanca Hospital Complex in Spain and lead author of the study, at the 16^th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in London. The authors recommended that myeloma patients with chromosomal abnormalities and persistent residual disease following transplantation should be considered for additional (consolidation) …

As the myeloma community continues to investigate whether stem cell transplantation or novel agents is the best way to treat newly diagnosed myeloma patients, recent results from a Phase 3 clinical trial indicate that stem cell transplantation may lead to longer disease-free survival.

The results from this study show that more multiple myeloma patients who received a stem cell transplant were alive and disease-free after 24 months compared to patients treated with Revlimid in combination with conventional chemotherapy.

The transplanted patients, however, also experienced more severe side effects compared to non-transplanted patients. …

Multiple myeloma physicians and researchers are gathering at the 16^th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in London to share the latest findings in the field.  The meeting started on Thursday and will run through tomorrow.

The Myeloma Beacon will report on the most important new findings related to multiple myeloma over the next couple of weeks.

The research presented at the meeting will cover all areas of hematology, which is the study of blood, blood-forming organs, and blood-related diseases, including myeloma.

On Thursday, physicians had the opportunity to attend scientific …