In young patients under age 65, stem cell transplants have greatly reduced remission rates when coupled with novel therapeutic agents (thalidomide, Velcade, and Revlimid).

Unlike elderly patients, younger individuals are usually healthy enough to withstand an intensive course of high-dose chemotherapy. The chemotherapy, while a potent killer of cancerous cells, also destroys bone marrow, therefore necessitating a transplant after treatment. In conjunction with high-dose therapy and transplant, the introduction of novel agents has further improved complete remission (CR), very good partial remission (VGPR), and progression-free survival (PFS) rates. …

The impact of venous thrombotic events (VTE) on overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma was examined in a study presented at the 2008 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

VTE occurs when a blood clot fully or partially blocks a vein, which carries blood back to the heart.  This can result in deep vein thrombosis (when a deep vein is blocked) or pulmonary embolism (when a clot dislodges and blocks an artery in the lungs).  VTE is a frequent complication of the Revlimid (lenalidomide)-dexamethasone combination treatment …

A large-scale, retrospective study has confirmed an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with multiple myeloma or its precursor condition, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).

DVT is a potentially lethal clot formation in the deep veins of the body. If a clot dislodges, it may travel to other areas and block blood flow to vital organs. Researchers estimate that approximately 70 percent of all critical blockages of lung blood vessels originate from DVT in the pelvis or lower extremities.

In this study, which involved over four million male veterans, multiple …

A recent paper compared the old and new therapies of multiple myeloma in elderly patients. Until 2007, chemotherapy with melphalan and prednisone (MP) was considered the standard treatment. However, new treatments are needed since the median survival rate with the MP regimen is only three years.

One method considered for the elderly is melphalan therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). An Italian multiple myeloma study group showed that a 100-milligram dose of melphalan followed by ASCT given twice worked better than MP in terms of response rate, event-free survival, and …

Researchers have achieved major strides in the treatment of multiple myeloma in the last ten years with the use of drugs such as thalidomide (marketed as Thalomid), Revlimid (lenalidomide), and Velcade (bortezomib). In conjunction with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation, these various therapeutic options have increased patients’ treatment response and remission rates.

In a recent clinical trial involving Total Treatment 3 (TT3), 80% of patients who received up-front chemotherapy, transplantation, thalidomide, and Velcade achieved nearly complete remission. Of those, 90% have …

Researchers have published new results showing that patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma achieve a better response to treatment with Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus dexamethasone than to dexamethasone alone.  This finding holds for all patients, including those who have previously been treated with thalidomide (marketed as Thalomid).

The new results are based on pooled data from two randomized clinical trials involving more than seven hundred myeloma patients.  The patients had either relapsed multiple myeloma - disease that had initially responded to treatment but had begun to progress again …

Newly reported laboratory results suggest that certain naturally-occurring immune system cells could one day serve as a treatment for multiple myeloma.

The results also suggest that therapies based on these cells may be made more effective when combined with a drug already used to treat myeloma.

Invariant natural killer T cells – or “iNKT" cells – are antitumor immune system cells. In multiple myeloma patients, iNKT cells are often defective or in short supply.

Researchers affiliated with Harvard University decided to test whether iNKT cells display antitumor activity against …