An advisory committee of the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion regarding European approval of pomalidomide for the treatment of cer­tain patients with multiple myeloma.

Specifically, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) rec­om­mended that pomalidomide be approved for use in com­bi­na­tion with dexa­metha­sone (Decadron) for the treatment of re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients who have received at least two prior therapies, including both Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Velcade (bor­tezo­mib), and have demonstrated disease progression while on their last therapy.

The …

In a recent review article pub­lished in the journal Clinical Cancer Re­search, two myeloma experts from the Dana-Farber Cancer In­sti­tute, Dr. Nikhil Munshi and Dr. Kenneth Anderson, review the latest strategies in the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma.

In their article, the experts discuss newer ther­a­pies that appear to be promising in clin­i­cal and pre­clin­i­cal stud­ies.

According to the physicians, com­bi­na­tion ther­a­pies that spe­cif­i­cally target a patient’s ge­netic form of the dis­ease will be re­quired for long-term dis­ease con­trol and ultimately a cure.

Some Historical Perspective

In their review article, Drs. Munshi and …

One of the advantages of living in the U.S. north­east is the chance to ex­peri­ence the change of the seasons. This year, the arrival of spring coin­cided with a new medical regimen for me and what has seemed like a rebirth of my own life.

As I described in my April column, this past win­ter was the season of my dis­content. In less than three months, I experienced two bouts of pneu­monia. I was at the hospital at least once a week, and I had near constant gastric distress. I tried …

The American Society of Clinical Oncology will hold its 49^th annual meeting May 31 through June 4 in Chicago.

Similar to pre­vi­ous years, 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 “Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer.”

During the meeting, there will be pre­sen­ta­tions and seminars about all areas of cancer, in­clud­ing many focused spe­cif­i­cally on mul­ti­ple myeloma. The ASCO website cur­rently lists more than 60 myeloma-based pre­sen­ta­tions (included …

During a session at the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) held in Japan last week, Dr. Keith Stewart from the Mayo Clinic summarized the latest findings from research related to the protein cereblon and its im­pact on certain myeloma treatments.

Dr. Stewart reported that low levels of cereblon are associated with lower re­sponse rates and reduced survival outcomes in multiple myeloma patients treated with the immunomodulatory agents Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), thalidomide (Thalomid), and Pomalyst (pomalidomide).

He explained that, with further investigation, these findings may eventually help physicians customize ther­apy …

A sub-analysis of recent Phase 2 clinical trial results indicates that Pomalyst in combination with low-dose dexamethasone is effective and safe in multiple myeloma patients with high-risk chromosomal ab­nor­malities who did not re­spond to prior therapy.

The findings were presented by Dr. Paul Richardson of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston at the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Kyoto, Japan, this past Sunday.

In the new analysis, high-risk patients were defined as those with a deletion in chromosome 17 (del17p) or the translocation t(4;14).

Although the response rates were lower and survival times shorter …

Looking back at all that has hap­pened in the world of mul­ti­ple myeloma since Jan­u­ary of 2012, it is hard not to be impressed by the many im­por­tant devel­op­ments that took place.

There is the obvious fact that, during that time, not one, but two new drugs to treat myeloma were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis­tra­tion (FDA).  Prior to 2012, the FDA had not approved a novel anti-myeloma ther­apy in over six years.

Yet 2012 was meaningful to the myeloma com­munity for reasons beyond the ac­­tiv­ity at the FDA’s …