Today concludes this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, which began on Friday in Chicago.  However, yesterday was the last day with any multiple myeloma-related sessions.

During yesterday’s poster session, important new research findings were summarized on posters throughout a large conference hall.

The studies were on a wide variety of myeloma-related topics ranging from new treatments being developed for myeloma, to currently used regimens, to secondary cancers, to precursor myeloma diseases, and much more.

This update covers some of the myeloma-related studies presented during the poster session, in …

Results from a recent Canadian study show that second stem cell trans­planta­tion as salvage therapy for multiple myeloma can be a safe and effective treatment option, especially for patients who relapsed more than 24 months after their first transplant.

Patients with a longer remission period after the first transplant demonstrated longer progression-free and overall survival times after the second transplant than those who relapsed within 24 months.

Additionally, achievement of at least a very good partial response after the salvage transplant was associ­ated with better survival outcomes.

“This may be an optimal …

Results of a recent small German study show that stem cell transplanta­tion as salvage therapy is most effective in patients who had a long remission duration after a previous transplant.

Specifically, results of the study show that patients who relapsed 12 months or later after their last transplant had significantly longer progression-free and overall survival times after salvage transplantation than patients who relapsed within 12 months. 

According to the study authors, patients who relapse within 12 months of a previous transplant do not benefit from this form of salvage therapy.

Based on …

Results of a recent study show that multiple myeloma patients who were initially treated with either thalidomide or Revlimid demonstrated strong responses to treatment with Revlimid and pomalidomide following relapse. In particular, researchers observed the highest response rates in patients who received treatment with pomalidomide.

Dr. Sumit Madan of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, presented the study results at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Orlando last month.

Research has previously shown that thalidomide (Thalomid) and Revlimid (lenalidomide), which belong to the same class of drugs …

In a study recently published in the journal Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia, researchers determined that continuous treatment with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) and prednisone at low doses is effective and manageable in multiple myeloma patients who cannot tolerate conventional chemotherapy.

When myeloma patients are unresponsive to treatment or experience relapse, doctors implement their plan B, known generally as salvage therapy. Most salvage therapies consist of the same treatment drugs at an increased dosage or a combination treatment of the same and new drugs. However, in patients who have health complications or …