Articles tagged with: Proteasome Inhibitors
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Dr. Edward Libby To Serve As The Myeloma Beacon’s First Medical Advisor – As a medical advisor for The Myeloma Beacon, Dr. Edward Libby, an associate professor of hematology and oncology at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center who specializes in multiple myeloma and other blood cancers, will be available to comment on current research results as well as answer select medical questions posted to the Beacon’s multiple myeloma forums. For more information about getting your medical question answered by a Beacon Medical Advisor, please see the instructions in the forums.
European Carfilzomib Trial To Be Expanded – Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the company developing carfilzomib, announced last week that it will expand the Phase 3 European clinical trial investigating the safety and efficacy of carfilzomib in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients. Patient enrollment will be increased from 84 to 300. In addition, the main goal of the study will be to evaluate carfilzomib’s impact on overall survival, instead of progression-free survival. The changes are being made based on preliminary results of a Phase 2b carfilzomib study that showed promising overall survival rates in relapsed / refractory myeloma patients (see related Beacon news). For more information about the expanded trial, see the Onyx Pharmaceuticals press release.
Teleconference On Advances In Myeloma Treatment – On April 12, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will sponsor a free teleconference call entitled “Advances in Myeloma Treatment and Side Effects Management.” The call will begin at noon Eastern Time and will be lead by Dr. Edward Stadtmauer, director of the bone marrow and stem cell transplant program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center. He will also speak about clinical trial participation and quality of life issues for myeloma patients. After his talk, Dr. Stadtmauer will answer questions from participants. For more information or to register, please see the LLS website.
For a more detailed listing of myeloma related-events, please check the Myeloma Beacon Events Calendar.
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Dr. Kenneth Anderson, a world-renowned myeloma specialist, physician and researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Kraft Family Professor at Harvard Medical School, spoke with The Myeloma Beacon about his approach to treating multiple myeloma patients.
This article is the second part of a two-part series based on The Myeloma Beacon’s interview with Dr. Anderson. It will cover Dr. Anderson’s thoughts on where myeloma treatment is headed in the coming years. For more information on Dr. Anderson’s current approach to treating multiple myeloma, please see part one of this series.
Emerging Therapies …
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Opinion: A Multiple Myeloma Patient’s Viewpoint On Randomized Clinical Trials – In the latest article published in the opinion section of The Myeloma Beacon, Dr. Jim Omel, a physician and multiple myeloma patient, wrote about how the clinical trial process could be changed to encourage greater participation among myeloma and other cancer patients. To receive a copy of all opinion articles when they are published or if you are interested in contributing an opinion piece, send an email to .
FDA Puts Carfilzomib On Fast Track For Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma – On January 31, Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fast-track designation for carfilzomib, a second-generation proteasome inhibitor that has shown promising anti-myeloma activity as a single agent and in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron). The fast-track designation accelerates the review and approval process of drugs developed to treat serious or life-threatening illnesses. Onyx can now submit carfilzomib’s New Drug Application to the FDA on a rolling basis. For more information, please see the Onyx Pharmaceuticals press release.
Investigational Drug Siltuximab Enhances Melphalan Efficacy In Multiple Myeloma Cells – Pre-clinical results showed that the monoclonal antibody siltuximab (CNTO 328), which is being developed by Centocor Ortho Biotech, enhanced the activity of melphalan (Alkeran). Siltuximab increased melphalan’s toxicity to myeloma cells and neutralized interleukin-6, a protein that promotes growth and drug resistance of myeloma cells. Several clinical trials studying siltuximab in myeloma patients are ongoing. For more information, please see the study in the British Journal of Haematology (abstract).
Investigational Drug BI 2536 Is Active Against Multiple Myeloma Cells – Results from a recently published study show that BI 2536, which is being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim, induces cell death in multiple myeloma cells. BI 2536 inhibits an enzyme called polo-like kinase 1, which regulates the cell cycle and has been associated with the development of many cancers. Additionally, BI 2536 increased the efficacy of Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone in these cell lines. The study authors concluded that the results suggest BI 2536 should be studied in clinical trials for multiple myeloma. For more information, please see the study in the journal Experimental Hematology (abstract).
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Carfilzomib is well tolerated and highly active in both newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients as well as relapsed and treatment-resistant patients, according to the results of two recent clinical trials that were presented at the American Society of Hematology 2010 annual meeting in Orlando earlier this month.
These results further underscore carfilzomib’s activity in multiple myeloma. Several studies with promising results were also reported in poster sessions during the annual meeting (see related Beacon news).
Like Velcade (bortezomib), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), which is being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, is a …
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Tuesday was the last day of the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Orlando. The myeloma portion of the conference concluded with one session of talks in the morning about treatments under development.
The first talk was given by Dr. David Siegel of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Dr. Siegel presented results from a study of single-agent carfilzomib in myeloma patients who had relapsed multiple times and did not respond to their last treatment (abstract).
Among the 257 evaluable participants, 24 percent achieved at least a partial …
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This Monday was the third full day of the American Society of Hematology 2010 annual meeting, and it was packed with multiple myeloma-related presentations. The Beacon published an update earlier today covering presentations made Monday morning. This article covers material from Monday afternoon and evening.
The first presentation of the afternoon was by Dr. Ruben Niesvizky of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He reported on the results of a Phase 3 trial using Velcade (bortezomib)-based initial treatment (induction) regimens combined with weekly Velcade maintenance therapy (abstract).
Patients in this trial were newly …
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Carfilzomib continues to show promising results in multiple myeloma according to four studies presented in a poster session yesterday at the 2010 American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Orlando.
Carfilzomib (Kyprolis), developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, is a new drug that is currently being investigated as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma. It belongs to the same class of drugs as Velcade (bortezomib). However it works slightly differently by binding to different proteins than Velcade.
Recent research has indicated that carfilzomib is effective for patients with relapsed or refractory (resistant) myeloma who …
