Results of a recent retrospective analysis indicate that stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion may be underutilized in multiple myeloma patients 80 years of age or older.

Researchers from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found that only 0.5 per­cent (9 patients) of the 1,740 multiple myeloma patients who received an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant between January 2007 and June 2018 at their institution were 80 years or older at the time of their first trans­plant.

Yet the trans­plant out­comes seen in this small sample of patients were favorable, and the toxicity …

Good morning, myeloma world.

We hope you had a pleasant weekend and that your new week is off to a good start.

The big news today is that Darzalex (daratumumab) has been approved in Europe as a new treatment for multiple myeloma. We will be pub­lish­ing a separate news article on the approval, which was announced a few hours ago. In the mean­time, you can find information about the approval in this press release from Genmab, the company that initially developed Darzalex.

The other news we have for you …

Good morning, myeloma world.

It's been a very chilly morning here at Myeloma Morning Headquarters. After teasing us with summerlike temperatures the past few weeks, Mother Nature has decided she's not done with the part of the thermometer below freezing.

We'll be focusing on two new research studies in today's report.

The first study looks at outcomes of allogeneic (donor) stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion for multiple myeloma. Using outcomes from a single U.S. treatment center, the study authors find that whether or not an allo­geneic trans­plant patient had high-risk disease at diagnosis did …

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 …

One of the key presentations during the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in New Orleans was one that summarized initial results of a large international Phase 3 clinical trial known as the "FIRST", or MM-020, trial.

The trial results show that continuous administration of Revlimid and dex­a­meth­a­sone improves response rates as well as progression-free and overall survival in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are older or not eligible for stem cell transplantation.

Specifically, the researchers found that the overall response rate was highest (75 percent) among patients who received …

Monday was the third day of this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).  The day was filled with oral presentation sessions from early in the morning until into the evening.

In the afternoon and early evening, there were six oral presentation sessions devoted solely to multiple myeloma and a number of other myeloma-related presentations scattered about the afternoon.  The topics of these presentations ranged from the biology of myeloma to treat­ment options for newly diag­nosed, re­lapsed and refractory, and older patients.

This ASH update highlights most of the oral …

Findings from a recent retrospective study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic show that overall survival for multiple myeloma patients treated at that cancer center has improved significantly between 2001 and 2010.

Patients diag­nosed between 2001 and 2005 had a median overall survival of 4.6 years, while those diag­nosed more recently – be­tween 2006 and 2010 – had an improved median overall survival of 6.1 years, or almost one-third higher.

In addition, the share of patients dying within a year of diagnosis, known as early mor­tal­i­ty, also decreased significantly during the 10-year time …