Monday was a big day for me.

After undergoing 36 consecutive weeks of Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone therapy since my stem cell transplant, I was hoping that Monday would be the day I could officially begin my easier-to-tolerate maintenance regimen.

Combination therapy with Revlimid (lenalidomide), Velcade (bortezomib), and dexamethasone (Decadron), known as RVD, had been tough for me to take over the last few months.  My platelet and white blood cell counts had been low and continued to edge down.  I was sore and out-of-sorts.  My body was screaming …

Dr. Michel Attal from the Purpan Hospital in Toulouse, France, presented a review of current maintenance therapies for multiple myeloma during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting last month.

The focus of Dr. Attal’s presentation was on whether there is evidence to support the use of the novel anti-myeloma agents thalidomide (Thalo­mid), Revlimid (lenalidomide), and Velcade (bortezomib) as mainte­nance therapy after initial therapy and stem cell transplantation.

Maintenance therapy refers to a prolonged, and often low-dose, form of treatment given to myeloma patients after their initial …

Currently, there are three major controversies in multiple myeloma patient management: early versus late transplant, treat or observe ‘high-risk’ smoldering myeloma, and whether to use maintenance therapy. The latter is predominantly an issue following autologous stem cell transplantation.

In May, one of the world’s premier medical journals, the New England Journal of Medicine, published three articles about clinical trials comparing Revlimid (lenalidomide) maintenance versus observation.  In two of the studies, Revlimid maintenance was given following autologous stem cell transplantation.  In the third study, Revlimid maintenance was given following conventional therapy in …

Today concludes this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, which began on Friday in Chicago.  However, yesterday was the last day with any multiple myeloma-related sessions.

During yesterday’s poster session, important new research findings were summarized on posters throughout a large conference hall.

The studies were on a wide variety of myeloma-related topics ranging from new treatments being developed for myeloma, to currently used regimens, to secondary cancers, to precursor myeloma diseases, and much more.

This update covers some of the myeloma-related studies presented during the poster session, in …

Today was the second day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.  Although the day has not been as busy with myeloma-related presentations as tomorrow and Monday will be, there still were some interesting presentations and discussions.

The Beacon published an update earlier today with news from a morning poster session that featured several presentations related to multiple myeloma (see related Beacon news).

This article covers material from an early-afternoon education session that was titled: "Controversies in Myeloma: Induction, Transplant, and Maintenance."

The education session included three talks by …

The 48th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will take place Friday, June 1, through Tuesday, June 5, in Chicago.

More than 25,000 clin­i­cal spe­cialists from all over the world are ex­pec­ted to attend the five-day meeting to discuss the cur­rent re­search in cancer treat­ment and care. The theme for this year’s meeting is “Collaborating to Conquer Cancer.”

The meeting will in­clude many pre­sen­ta­tions and seminars focused spe­cif­i­cally on mul­ti­ple myeloma. The ASCO website cur­rently lists nearly 50 myeloma-based pre­sen­ta­tions (included under “lymphoma and plasma cell disorders”).

The …

The results of the three major clinical trials investigating Revlimid maintenance therapy were published yesterday in three separate articles in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The articles were accompanied by an editorial summarizing the study findings and discussing their significance for the treatment of multiple myeloma patients.

All three clinical trials involved newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients.  The patients in the trials first underwent initial treatment that in some cases included Revlimid (lenalidomide).  In two of the three trials, the initial treatment also included a stem cell transplant.

After the …