The year 2013 is likely to be remembered as a very good year when it comes to re­search related to multiple myeloma.

Previous years have witnessed re­search shedding new light on existing my­e­lo­ma ther­a­pies, as well as addi­tional re­search about poten­tial new ther­a­pies.

But, in the past, most of the im­por­tant new ther­a­pies that were being re­searched were from existing classes of ther­apy, making them less likely to offer dramatic im­prove­ments in the treat­ment of the dis­ease.

In 2013, not only was there more re­search about existing ther­a­pies, and more re­search about …

This Monday was the third day of the 2013 American Society of Hema­tol­o­gy (ASH) annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans.

More than any other day of the conference, Monday was packed with im­por­tant myeloma pre­sen­ta­tions, from 7:00 in the morning until almost 8:00 in the eve­ning.

This ASH update will summarize the oral pre­sen­ta­tion sessions about treat­ment-related myeloma studies that were held Monday morning. An ASH update that was pub­lished on Wednesday focused on the sessions that were held Monday afternoon and evening.

Monday morning started with three simultaneous …

Results of several studies investigating Revlimid main­te­nance ther­a­py for mul­ti­ple myeloma will be presented at this year’s American Society of Hema­tol­ogy (ASH) annual meeting, which starts later this week.

Today’s article previews the results of the key Revlimid main­te­nance studies that will be presented at the meeting, drawing on findings pub­lished in the meeting abstracts.  Some of the study results, it should be noted, will be updated during the presentations at ASH this week and early next week.

The results to be presented at ASH are unlikely to settle the ongoing debate …

A new retrospective study by Emory University researchers may stir de­bate about the best way to treat high-risk myeloma patients.

The researchers investigated treating high-risk myeloma patients for up to three years with a combination of Revlimid, Velcade, and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

The extended three-drug ther­a­py, which the authors describe as a com­bined con­sol­i­da­tion/​main­te­nance regimen, was initiated after the pa­tients had re­ceived a stem cell transplant.  The patients' transplants were car­ried out soon after completion of the first (induction) treat­ment reg­i­men fol­low­ing diagnosis.

Some, but not all, of the patients also received the Revlimid-Velcade-dexamethasone …

Results from a recent small Phase 3 clinical trial show that the use of Velcade in preparation for donor stem cell transplantation as well as its use soon after transplantation and as maintenance therapy may be effective in high-risk multiple myeloma patients.

The results also indicate that the use of Velcade (bortezomib) soon after donor trans­­plan­­ta­­tion reduces the risk of developing a life-threatening donor trans­plant-related complication known as graft-versus-host disease.

The researchers note that, similar to other donor transplant protocols, the relapse rate was high. Thus, they recommend study of other novel …

Results from a small Phase 2 study conducted in Italy demon­strate that se­quen­tial treatment with novel agents and au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion with intermediate-dose melphalan is a safe and ef­fec­tive treat­ment for older, newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

“This is the first study with a sequential approach of Velcade in­duc­tion, autol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion, and Revlimid main­te­nance,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the University of Torino in Italy.

The regimen was safest in patients under the age 70; patients aged 70 years and older ex­peri­enced more treatment-related side effects …

This year’s meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was held May 31 through June 4 in Chicago.

During the meeting, The Beacon pub­lished daily up­dates that provided over­views of the im­por­tant mul­ti­ple myeloma findings pre­sented during the meeting.

Now that the meeting has concluded, the focus shifts to the bigger picture: What were the key findings of the meeting? Were there re­­sults with im­medi­ate im­pli­ca­­tions for the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma?  Did the re­search at the meeting rep­re­sent a major step for­ward for myeloma patients, or …