At the XII International Myeloma Workshop Saturday, myeloma experts presented their consensus panel report to attendees on the topic of risk stratification in multiple myeloma.

Risk stratification, as defined by the panel leaders, refers to how a patient will progress with myeloma and how to proceed with treatment. The panel’s goal was to propose standard guidelines to evaluate a patient’s risk factors and then determine how to treat such a patient.

For the panel discussion, risk factors did not refer to factors that lead to the development of …

In preparation for the XII International Myeloma Workshop (IMW), physicians have compiled a standardized set of guidelines for diagnosing suspected new or recurrent multiple myeloma. The event will be held in Washington D.C. at the end of February.

Initial investigation of a patient with suspected multiple myeloma should include family and past medical history, blood tests, urine analysis, and bone marrow extraction. Physicians should inquire about any first degree relatives with blood disorders or cancers. Documenting a patient's medical history is important for evaluating which treatments and side effects the patient …

As the number of clinical trials on multiple myeloma increases, doctors are asking for more uniform reporting measures.  Maintaining these standards is important both for comparing different therapies and for assessing the validity and reliability of results.

One consensus panel for the upcoming International Myeloma Workshop spent the past year developing guidelines for the reporting of results from clinical trials.  The definitions are largely built from standards used in current practice and include terms found in many published reports.

First, the guidelines outline definitions for patient populations as relapsed, refractory, or relapsed …

The XII International Myeloma Workshop is set to kickoff next Thursday, February 26, in Washington, D. C., after being relocated from the previous conference site of Mumbai.

The conference, which occurs every two years, will bring together multiple myeloma experts from around the world to discuss new milestones in myeloma treatment and research.

The workshop began in 1987 after the first bone marrow transplantation was performed on a myeloma patient. Thirty-five leaders in the myeloma community formed a “think tank” where they could share results and work to …

At the recent ASH conference, Palumbo and colleagues presented a new induction therapy composed of bortezomib (Velcade), doxurubicin, and dexamethasone that is specifically targeted to elderly patients.

Palumbo and colleagues treated 122 …

A study presented at the 2008 American Society for Hematology (ASH) meeting reports on a treatment called Tandem Auto/AlloHCT, a combination of stem cell transplants that uses cells from both the multiple myeloma patient and a donor.

In the study, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients first underwent autologous cell transplantation, a procedure in which a patient’s own stem cells are transplanted into his or her bone marrow. This was followed by non-myeloablative allotransplantation, which uses stem cells from a donor and is accompanied by a less aggressive conditioning regime than is typically …

Carfilzomib, a new drug similar to Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), has been shown to be 18 per­cent to 54 per­cent effective against multiple myeloma in re­lapsed and refractory patients, depending on the level of prior treat­ment.

Carfilzomib ther­apy has pre­vi­ously been shown to result in greater than 80 per­cent proteasome inhibition. Furthermore, car­filz­o­mib in comparison to current treat­ments presents a reduction in the occurrence of periph­eral neu­rop­athy, a painful side effect that causes pain and numbness in the hands and feet. A pre­vi­ous article discusses how car­filz­o­mib uses proteasome inhibition to stop …