The U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier today issued an extensive update regarding the risk of developing a second cancer while being treated with Revlimid.

The update comes on the heels of a change the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made to the prescribing information for Revlimid (lenalidomide) in March of this year.

The change involved the addition of a warning that patients being treated with Revlimid have an increased risk of developing a second cancer (see related Beacon news).

Today’s update by the FDA includes more specific details of the …

The results of a small Phase 2 study indicate that sequential mainte­nance therapy involving six months of Velcade followed by six months of thalidomide is both effective and tolerable in multiple myeloma patients who have received a stem cell transplant.

The Phase 2 trial was carried out recently at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.

Many patients in the trial experienced peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain and tingling in the extremities).

However, the City of Hope researchers believe a key result of their study is that …

A group of myeloma experts from the International Myeloma Working Group recently published a consensus statement on maintenance therapies for myeloma patients.

In their statement, the experts reviewed the main findings from previous clinical trials that investigated the impact of maintenance therapies containing the novel agents thalidomide (Thalomid), Revlimid (lenalidomide), and Velcade (bortezomib).

Maintenance therapy is a prolonged, and often low-dose, form of treatment given to myeloma patients after their initial therapy. The goal of maintenance therapy is to prevent disease progression for as long as possible while maintaining …

Yesterday, the third day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego, was the busiest day of the meeting for people interested in multiple myeloma.  Myeloma-related presentations filled the entire morning and afternoon, and sometimes there were even multiple relevant presentations going on simultaneously.

The morning presentations about therapies combining current myeloma drugs will be covered in this update.  Morning presentations about potential new myeloma therapies were covered in an update published earlier today, and presentations from the rest of the day will be covered in …

A recent British analysis of data from a major clinical trial found that thalidomide maintenance therapy did not have a uniformly positive impact on overall survival in multiple myeloma patients.

In fact, overall survival for patients in the trial who received thalidomide maintenance was slightly lower than overall survival for patients who did not receive maintenance therapy.  The difference, however, was not statistically significant.

In contrast, progression free survival was significantly longer for patients who received thalidomide maintenance compared to patients who were not on a maintenance regimen.

The study findings thereby …

Results of a recent Italian study suggest that a combination of Velcade and dexamethasone is a safe and effective form of maintenance therapy for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients who responded to Velcade-containing rescue regimens.

“Our study showed that maintenance therapy with Velcade in relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma patients may improve the progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with a low grade of toxicity,” Dr. Giulia Benevolo, lead author of the study, told The Myeloma Beacon.

“[However], this is a Phase 2 trial, and the results must be confirmed in randomized …

In a session of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) today, multiple myeloma experts presented the latest data about the efficacy of Revlimid maintenance therapy and discussed the drug’s potential link to second cancers.

Results from a study conducted by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) showed that Revlimid (lenalidomide) maintenance therapy following stem cell transplantation significantly extends survival of myeloma patients.  Two other studies investigating Revlimid maintenance, the IFM 2005-02 and MM-015 studies, have not yet shown a survival benefit.

All three studies, however, have raised concerns that Revlimid maintenance …