The results of a recent retrospective analysis show that long-term treat­ment with the combination of Revlimid, clarithromycin (Biaxin), and dexa­methasone – commonly abbreviated "BiRd" – is effective and safe in newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

Furthermore, the study did not find any significant association between long-term Revlimid (lenalidomide) therapy and an increased risk of developing secondary cancers.

“We did expect these results. It was our sense from following patients who have been treated with lena­lido­mide [Revlimid] long-term and have not received any genotoxic therapy that we did not see increased rates of second primary malignancies,” said …

Results from a recent, small-scale study conducted at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston suggest that three Velcade-based combination therapies given at lower doses over a short period of time may be safe and effective in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients .

In particular, two out of the three combinations showed overall response rates of above 90 percent, and all combinations were associated with few side effects.

Based on their findings, the researchers conclude that the tested combinations are viable alternatives to standard Velcade (bortezomib)-based combinations given over longer periods …

The results of a recent retrospective study show that the use of novel agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma may not have a negative impact on subse­quent stem cell collection and transplantation.

The study's results stand in contrast to previous research that has suggested that Revlimid, one of the most commonly used novel agents, may have a nega­tive effect on stem cell collection.

Factors in the current study that were found to be associated with stem cell col­lection failure included older age, lower platelet counts prior to stem cell collection, and …

Tuesday was the final day of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting, which took place in Atlanta.  The meeting concluded in the morning with a series of oral presentation sessions held simultaneously.

Three of the morning sessions focused on the biology of multiple myeloma as well as preclinical and clinical studies of treat­ment options for multiple myeloma patients.

This update will summarize the research presented during the session that focused on myeloma treat­ment options.  In addi­tion, it will summarize results from an important late-breaking study of poma­lido­mide that also was …

This year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, which is being held in Atlanta, began yesterday and goes through Tuesday.

Today’s myeloma-related presentations began this afternoon with three sessions of oral presentations.  Two of the sessions focused on results from clin­i­cal trials, most of which studied drugs that are still under devel­op­ment as poten­tial treat­ments for multiple myeloma.  The third session, which focused on the biology of myeloma, ran simultaneously with one of the sessions about clin­i­cal trial results.

This article will summarize the first oral session about multiple myeloma treat­ments, …

The results of a recent retrospective study suggest that treatment with Velcade or thalidomide may increase multiple myeloma patients’ risk of developing abnormal lung function.

Specifically, patients treated with Velcade (bortezomib)-based regimens were twice as likely to develop lung obstruction, and those treated with thalidomide (Thalomid)-based regimens were twice as likely to develop lung restriction.

However, the study investigators note that their study did not include information about lung disease patients may have had before their myeloma therapy.  The researchers acknowledge that this could affect the interpretation of the study …

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 …