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[ by The Myeloma Beacon Staff | Dec 13, 2013 9:16 pm | 3 Comments ]

This Monday was the third day of the 2013 American Society of Hema­tol­o­gy (ASH) annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans.

More than any other day of the conference, Monday was packed with im­por­tant myeloma pre­sen­ta­tions, from 7:00 in the morning until almost 8:00 in the eve­ning.

This ASH update will summarize the oral pre­sen­ta­tion sessions about treat­ment-related myeloma studies that were held Monday morning. An ASH update that was pub­lished on Wednesday focused on the sessions that were held Monday afternoon and evening.

Monday morning started with three simultaneous …

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[ by Julie Shilane | Nov 15, 2013 10:52 pm | 3 Comments ]

At this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting, which will be held in early De­cem­ber, more than 100 oral pre­sen­ta­tions and about 400 poster pre­sen­ta­tions will summarize re­search focused on multiple myeloma.

Abstracts for these pre­sen­ta­tions are now avail­able.

During the next several weeks, The Beacon will pub­lish a series of arti­cles pre­viewing the myeloma-related studies from the ASH meeting that are of par­tic­u­lar interest.

Each of the articles will cover abstracts related to a specific topic, such as new treat­ments under de­vel­op­ment, current treat­ments, stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion, prog­nos­tic factors, and …

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HHV-6 Infection May Be Common After Stem Cell Transplantation – Results of a retro­spec­tive­ Israeli study in­di­cate that human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) in­fec­tion is common in multiple myeloma patients after own (autologous) stem cell trans­plantation. HHV-6 is a family of two viruses that are present, but inactive, in most adults. If the virus be­comes active in an adult, the resulting in­fec­tion can cause pneu­monia, sup­pres­sion of blood cell pro­duc­tion, and inflammation of the brain. The Israeli re­searchers found that 16 per­cent of patients in their study devel­oped an HHV-6 in­fec­tion after stem cell trans­plantation. The rate of infec­tion was higher in patients who had re­ceived initial ther­apy with Velcade (bor­tezomib) and dexamethasone (Decadron) (20 per­cent) com­pared to those who re­ceived thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexa­meth­a­sone (10 per­cent). The re­searchers rec­om­mend further studies to de­ter­mine if Velcade plays a role in the devel­op­ment in­fec­tion due to the virus. For more infor­ma­tion, please see the study in the journal Bone Marrow Research (full text).

Iron Supplementation May Increase Velcade’s Efficacy – Results of a small Italian pre­clin­i­cal study show that iron supple­mentation may in­crease the efficacy of Velcade. The Italian re­searchers found that iron supple­mentation promoted protein oxidation and in­creased myeloma cell death. They concluded that modi­fi­cation of the iron status in multiple myeloma patients may be worth con­sidering to im­prove the efficacy of pro­te­a­some in­hib­i­tors such as Velcade. For more in­for­ma­tion, please see the study in Haemato­logica (full text).

Phase 1 Clinical Trial To Study SAR650984 Plus Revlimid In Previously-Treated Myeloma Patients – The pharma­ceu­tical com­pany Sanofi-Aventis is starting a Phase 1 trial of SAR650984 in com­bi­na­tion with Rev­limid (lena­lido­mide) and dexa­meth­a­sone in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory multiple myeloma patients. Myeloma patients must have re­ceived at least two prior ther­a­pies to be able to par­tic­i­pate in the trial. SAR650984 belongs to the same class of drugs as elotuzumab and daratumumab, called mono­clonal anti­bodies. Monoclonal anti­bodies work by identifying proteins on the surface of myeloma cells and signal­ing for the immune sys­tem to destroy the cancer cells. For more in­for­ma­tion, in­clud­ing trial locations, please see the clinical trial description.

NewsFlash »

Revlimid Granted Approval For Multiple Myeloma In Japan – Celgene announced last week that Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) has been approved for the treat­ment of re­lapsed and re­frac­tory multiple myeloma in com­bi­na­tion with dexamethasone (Decadron) in Japan. Revlimid will be avail­able through Revmate, a pro­pri­e­tary distribution pro­gram. For more in­for­ma­tion, please read the Celgene press release.

Immunomedics Doses First Multiple Myeloma Patient With Milatuzumab-Doxorubicin Combination – Immunomedics has dosed the first patient in a Phase 1/2 study of its milatuzumab-based treat­ment for multiple myeloma. This treat­ment has doxorubicin (Adriamycin), a chemo­ther­apy drug, bound to milatuzumab, an anti­body. It will be eval­u­ated for its efficacy as a treat­ment for re­lapsed and re­frac­tory multiple myeloma patients. For more in­for­ma­tion, please see the Immunomedics press release and the clinical trial description.

ImmunoGen And Sanofi-Aventis Announce Beginning Of Phase 1 Trial Of Potential New Myeloma Treatment – ImmunoGen Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clin­i­cal trial of SAR650984, an anti­body that targets cancer cells. In pre­clin­i­cal testing, SAR650984 was found to have anti-cancer effects, and is now being in­ves­ti­gated as a treat­ment for re­lapsed and re­frac­tory multiple myeloma as well as other blood cancers. For more in­for­ma­tion, please refer to the ImmunoGen press release.