Articles tagged with: Perifosine
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The Beacon continues today with its ‘ASH preview’ series about myeloma research that will be presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in early December.
Abstracts for the ASH presentations are now available, although many contain preliminary information that will be updated at the meeting.
The Beacon’s ASH preview articles are intended to highlight the meeting's most interesting myeloma-related studies.
The first and second previews, published earlier this week and last week, provide an overview of ASH abstracts about the newest potential myeloma therapies just starting out in clinical trials. Further previews will …
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Within the past nine months, two new agents have been approved for the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma.
In July 2012, a second generation proteasome inhibitor, Kyprolis (carfilzomib), was approved for patients with relapsed/refractory disease. In February of this year, Pomalyst (pomalidomide) was approved for use in similar patients.
These two agents, with dexamethasone (Decadron) or in combination with other drugs, should further broaden the armamentarium for the treatment of myeloma as we continue to strive to make myeloma a chronic disease.
Rather than dwell on …
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Aeterna Zentaris (NASDAQ:AEZS) announced today that the Canadian company is discontinuing its Phase 3 clinical trial of perifosine for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
An independent Data Safety Monitoring Board recommended the trial be discontinued after interim results showed that perifosine (KRX-0401) plus Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone (Decadron) has not, and most likely will not, significantly extend progression-free survival compared to Velcade and dexamethasone alone.
The Board did not raise any safety concerns related to perifosine.
Aeterna Zentaris did not explicitly state in its announcement today …
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Treatment strategies that combine Revlimid with newer types of anti-tumor agents may be effective for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, according to myeloma experts who reviewed results from studies of these new combinations.
Refractory and relapsed multiple myeloma is notoriously difficult to treat. For every remission period that is achieved, relapse typically arises sooner and with greater resistance to previously used therapies. These patients have limited options for therapy.
In examining trials that tested new therapies in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide), the authors of the review hoped to find the potential …
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Phase 3 Trial To Compare Carfilzomib and Velcade For Relapsed Multiple Myeloma – On Monday, Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced the start of a Phase 3 trial comparing the safety and efficacy of its investigational drug carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to that of Velcade (bortezomib). In particular, the trial will investigate the efficacy and safety of carfilzomib in combination with dexamethasone (Decadron) versus Velcade plus dexamethasone in patients who have received one to three prior lines of therapy. Carfilzomib is in the same class of drugs as Velcade, known as proteasome inhibitors. It is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for potential approval as a new treatment for myeloma (see related Beacon news). For more information, please see the Onyx Pharmaceuticals press release and the clinical trial description.
Phase 3 Trial Of MLN9708 Begins In Patients With Relapsed Or Refractory Myeloma – Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed Velcade and markets the drug in the United States, announced last week the initiation of an international Phase 3 clinical trial of its investigational compound MLN9708 (ixazomib) in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The study will investigate the efficacy and safety of MLN9708 in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone. Like carfilzomib and Velcade, MLN9708 is a proteasome inhibitor; however, it is administered orally. In recent Phase 1/2 clinical trials, MLN9708 showed promising results as a single agent as well as in combination with Revlimid and dexamethasone in both newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory myeloma patients (see related Beacon news). For more information, please see the Millennium press release and the clinical trial description.
Researchers Identify Potential Reason For Drug Resistance In Some High-Risk Multiple Myeloma Patients – Researchers from the United States and Singapore have found that a small molecule of RNA called ACA11 may be the reason for drug resistance in multiple myeloma patients with the chromosomal abnormality t(4;14). Specifically, the researchers found that ACA11 was present in all the cancer cells of patients with t(4;14). As the amount of ACA11 increased, levels of oxidative stress that damage cells went down, protecting cancer cells from damage. As a result, the cancer cells were more resistant to chemotherapy. Patients with t(4;14), which is a translocation of a region of chromosome 4 to chromosome 14, are considered high-risk patients (see related Beacon news). For more information, please see the study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation and the Washington University in St. Louis press release.
Japanese Phase 1 Trial To Study Perifosine For Refractory Myeloma – The Canadian biotech company Aeterna Zentaris announced last week that its partner in Japan, Yakult Honsha, has begun a Phase 1 clinical trial of perifosine (KRX-0401) in multiple myeloma patients who are resistant to Velcade treatment. The study will evaluate the safety of perifosine in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone in 18 patients. Perifosine is an orally administered drug that belongs to a new class of anti-cancer drugs called “Akt inhibitors.” In the United States, perifosine in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone is in Phase 3 trials for multiple myeloma (see related Beacon news). For more information, please see the Aeterna Zentaris press release.
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Aeterna Zentaris announced this morning that the company will be continuing development of perifosine as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma.
Speculation arose last month that an ongoing Phase 3 trial of perifosine in myeloma might be canceled due to disappointing results from a Phase 3 trial of perifosine in colorectal cancer.
Perifosine (KRX-0401) is an orally administered drug that belongs to a new class of anti-cancer drugs known as “Akt-inhibitors.” Akt is a protein believed to play an important role in the development and growth of cancer cells.
Dr. Paul Richardson, from …
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The final results of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial indicate that perifosine in combination with Velcade and dexamethasone may be effective in multiple myeloma patients who previously relapsed from or were treatment-resistant to Velcade.
The trial results made a favorable impression on Dr. Philip McCarthy of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, who was not involved in the study.
“This combination had activity with an overall response rate (complete response, near complete response, partial response, and minor response) of 41 percent which is quite reasonable and exciting in this …
