This article describes a myeloma patient’s experience participating in a clinical trial. It is part of a series of articles intended to help clarify the clinical trial process.

Don was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2004. At the age of 69 and despite living with a cancer that attacks his bones, Don inspires fellow myeloma patients by running in marathons. He has completed three marathons so far this year, is running in one tomorrow, and plans on participating in three to four more marathons just this year. Additionally, Don maintains a blog …

Results from an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial suggest that pomalidomide (Pomalyst) in combination with dexamethasone (Decadron) is effective and well-tolerated in patients who are resistant (refractory) to previous myeloma treatment with both Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Velcade (bortezomib). The findings were presented by Dr. Martha Lacy of the Mayo Clinic at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago on Saturday.

“We found the pomalidomide-dexamethasone regimen has significant activity in Revlimid- and Velcade-refractory myeloma,” said Dr. Lacy.

Pomalidomide is a new therapy being developed by …

Yesterday -- Saturday, June 5 -- was the sec­ond day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 annual meeting in Chicago.  It was a busy day in terms of re­search posters and pre­sen­ta­tions re­lated to mul­ti­ple myeloma.  As a re­­sult, there is a lot of ground to cover in this up­date.

Almost 40 myeloma-related posters were up for meeting attendees to view during the daytime poster session on "lymphoma and plasma cell disorders."  Among those 40-or-so posters, six con­cerned re­search done by the myeloma team at the Uni­ver­sity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), …

The year 2009 brought a lot of new and ex­cit­ing ad­vancements in the field of mul­ti­ple myeloma. Over the course of 2009, The Myeloma Beacon covered more than 100 im­por­tant myeloma-related stud­ies.

To highlight the most im­por­tant of these stud­ies, the Myeloma Beacon surveyed lead­ing physicians and re­searchers in the field. These physicians and re­searchers were asked to name the three peer reviewed journal articles pub­lished in 2009 and the three conference abstracts from 2009 that have the most im­por­tant findings or implications relating to mul­ti­ple myeloma.

The top three journal …

At the upcoming meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), there will be several presentations about Actimid (pomalidomide). Actimid, a new drug being developed by Celgene Corporation as a treatment for multiple myeloma, is a molecular derivative of thalidomide (Thalomid).

Actimid As A Combination Therapy With Dexamethasone

One of the ASH presentations will show that the combination regimen of Actimid and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is an effective treatment for relapsed multiple myeloma.

Actimid was tested in combination with dexamethasone in 34 patients with relapsed myeloma following therapy with

The Journal of Clinical Oncology has reported that a combination regimen of Actimid (pomalidomide) and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) in a Phase 2 clinical trial was highly effective in the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients.

Actimid belongs to a class of therapeutic agents called immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), which are molecular analogs of thalidomide (Thalomid). Thalidomide acts on myeloma tumors by inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels. In addition to this mechanism, IMiDs prevent the development of abnormal tissue masses called neoplasms and induce programmed cell death. …

A num­ber of new drugs are on the horizon for re­lapsed and re­frac­tory patients, as discussed by physicians at the 2009 Inter­na­tional Myeloma Workshop (IMW). The dis­cus­sion covered drugs in all stages of devel­op­ment, from those still undergoing initial lab testing to ones already in inter­na­tional clin­i­cal trials.

Overall re­spon­siveness to treat­ment has im­proved dramatically with the recent in­tro­duc­tion of more potent agents such as Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib). Doctors are now testing com­bi­na­tions of these two drugs with newer pharma­ceu­ticals. Of the two, Velcade has been …