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HHV-6 Infection May Be Common After Stem Cell Transplantation – Results of a retro­spec­tive­ Israeli study in­di­cate that human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in­fec­tion is common in multiple myeloma patients after own (autologous) stem cell trans­plantation. HHV-6 is a family of two viruses that are present, but inactive, in most adults. If the virus be­comes active in an adult, the resulting in­fec­tion can cause pneu­monia, sup­pres­sion of blood cell pro­duc­tion, and inflammation of the brain. The Israeli re­searchers found that 16 per­cent of patients in their study devel­oped an HHV-6 in­fec­tion after stem cell trans­plantation. The rate of infec­tion was higher in patients who had re­ceived initial ther­apy with Velcade (bor­tezomib) and dexamethasone (Decadron) (20 per­cent) com­pared to those who re­ceived thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexa­meth­a­sone (10 per­cent). The re­searchers rec­om­mend further studies to de­ter­mine if Velcade plays a role in the devel­op­ment in­fec­tion due to the virus. For more infor­ma­tion, please see the study in the journal Bone Marrow Research (full text).

Iron Supplementation May Increase Velcade’s Efficacy – Results of a small Italian pre­clin­i­cal study show that iron supple­mentation may in­crease the efficacy of Velcade. The Italian re­searchers found that iron supple­mentation promoted protein oxidation and in­creased myeloma cell death. They concluded that modi­fi­cation of the iron status in multiple myeloma patients may be worth con­sidering to im­prove the efficacy of pro­te­a­some in­hib­i­tors such as Velcade. For more in­for­ma­tion, please see the study in Haemato­logica (full text).

Phase 1 Clinical Trial To Study SAR650984 Plus Revlimid In Previously-Treated Myeloma Patients – The pharma­ceu­tical com­pany Sanofi-Aventis is starting a Phase 1 trial of SAR650984 in com­bi­na­tion with Rev­limid (lena­lido­mide) and dexa­meth­a­sone in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory multiple myeloma patients. Myeloma patients must have re­ceived at least two prior ther­a­pies to be able to par­tic­i­pate in the trial. SAR650984 belongs to the same class of drugs as elotuzumab and daratumumab, called mono­clonal anti­bodies. Monoclonal anti­bodies work by identifying proteins on the surface of myeloma cells and signal­ing for the immune sys­tem to destroy the cancer cells. For more in­for­ma­tion, in­clud­ing trial locations, please see the clinical trial description.