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), …

Friday, June 4, was the first day of this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. Most of the big multiple myeloma news of the day came out of a poster session in the afternoon.

At "poster sessions," researchers present a poster-sized summary of their research in a small, 2 meter by 1 meter cubicle. Researchers and physicians mill about, taking pictures of the posters with their cell phone cameras or taking notes. Sometimes one or more of the contributing researchers are present to answer questions. More often than …

Preliminary results from an ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial suggest that carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in com­bi­na­tion with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is well-tolerated over extended periods of ther­apy in patients who have re­lapsed or are resistant (refractory) to pre­vi­ous myeloma treat­ment.

The findings were presented Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Carfilzomib is a new ther­apy being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals and studied for the treat­ment of patients with re­lapsed or refractory myeloma. It works similarly to Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) by preventing …

Leading myeloma specialists from across Europe recently published an article in the journal The Oncologist that summarized the current treatment options and availability of therapeutic agents for multiple myeloma patients in Europe. This article, Part 4 in the series, summarizes the European authors’ recommendations for the management of side effects.

The European authors provided recommendations for managing side effects related to novel agent use in myeloma patients. The recommendations are similar to how the side effects are managed in the United States.

Blood Clots

Blood clots are one of the …

Leading myeloma specialists from across Europe recently published an article in the journal The Oncologist that summarized the current treatment options and availability of therapeutic agents for multiple myeloma patients in Europe. This article, Part 3 in a series, summarizes the European physicians’ treatment recommendations for patients with relapsed myeloma. Part 1 compares availability of myeloma treatments in Europe and the U.S., and part 2 summarizes physician’s treatment recommendations for newly diagnosed patients. Part 4 will cover the management of side effects.

Although recent clinical trials have demonstrated that novel …

Leading myeloma specialists from across Europe recently published an article in the journal The Oncologist that summarized the current treatment options and availability of therapeutic agents for multiple myeloma patients in Europe. This article, Part 2 in a series, summarizes the European physician’s treatment recommendations for newly diagnosed patients. Part 1 compares availability of myeloma treatments in Europe and the U.S., and subsequent articles will summarize treatment recommendations for relapsed patients and management of side effects.

First-Line Treatment Practices

Due to more restrictive approved uses in Europe, there are also significant …