Results from a number of multiple myeloma studies were presented yesterday during the second day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting in San Diego.

Predicting Response To Immunomodulatory Drugs

During an oral presentation and a poster presentation yesterday, researchers discussed the role of the protein cereblon in the treatment of myeloma.  Results from one study (abstract) in myeloma cell lines suggested that cereblon plays a key role in whether multiple myeloma patients respond to the immunomodulatory drugs Revlimid (lenalidomide) and pomalidomide.  Another study (abstract) …

Results of a recent study show that newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients initially treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide, Velcade, and dexamethasone have better response rates and less severe side effects than patients treated with Revlimid-dexamethasone or cyclophosphamide-Revlimid-dexamethasone.

The survival outcomes for the patients treated with cyclophosphamide, Velcade, and dexamethasone also are promising.

However, the difference in survival rates between the three treatment regimens is not statistically significant.

This is partly because "the numbers [of patients in the study] were too small to show differences in survival,” explained Dr. Craig Reeder of the …

A group of French myeloma specialists recently published a review of treatment strategies for multiple myeloma patients who have relapsed or become resistant to previous therapies.

This Beacon article, the second in a two-part series, summarizes the review’s insights into issues that need to be considered when choosing among relapse treatment options

Part 1 summarizes the review’s perspectives on the use of novel agents in the treatment of relapsed and refractory myeloma.  

According to the authors of the review, the goal at relapse is to select a treatment regimen that maximizes …

A group of French myeloma specialists recently published a review of treatment strategies for multiple myeloma patients who have relapsed or become resistant to previous therapies.

This Beacon article, the first in a two-part series, summarizes the review's perspectives on the use of novel agents in the treatment of relapsed and refractory myeloma.  

A second Beacon article will look at the review's insights into issues that need to be considered when choosing among relapse treatment options.

The authors of the recent review begin their discussion by noting how use of the …

Results of a recent analysis suggest that newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients receiving Revlimid or thalidomide as initial therapy have similar prognoses regardless of whether they receive an early stem cell transplant or delay the transplant and continue their initial treatment.

Specifically, the authors of the analysis found that myeloma patients who received a stem cell transplant early in the course of their disease had a comparable survival rate and time to disease progression as patients who continued Revlimid (lenalidomide) or thalidomide (Thalomid) as initial therapy and intended to do …

Results of a recent study show that multiple myeloma patients who relapse after pomalidomide therapy may benefit from certain salvage therapies, including Velcade, Revlimid, and stem cell transplantation.

Furthermore, patients who received a stem cell transplant after relapse achieved the highest response rate among all patients who received salvage therapy. The results also suggest that Revlimid retains its activity in patients who relapse after pomalidomide therapy.

“[The study] gives a sense of what therapies still continue to have activity [after patients relapse on pomalidomide],” said Dr. Shaji Kumar of the Mayo Clinic …

The European Medicines Agency announced earlier today that its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has completed its safety review of Revlimid. The review was started earlier this year after several studies showed an increased risk of new cancers in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients being treated with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and other treatments.

The Agency's Committee has concluded that "the benefits of Revlimid, particularly improved survival, continue to outweigh the risks but recommended that the prescribing information for Revlimid be updated with a warning and advice to doctors on …