A study published in the July issue of the journal Blood examines quality of life in individuals who have undergone allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), a procedure often used to treat multiple myeloma patients.

Allogeneic HCT involves the transplantation of stem cells donated from one person to another person. Stem cells, found in the bone marrow, develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets. When a person with myeloma or another type of blood cancer goes through chemotherapy, not only do cancer cells get destroyed, but so do normal …

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants (auto-HSCT) may reverse kidney failure in one third of multiple myeloma patients, according to authors of an article published in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Stem cell transplants are used to replace stem cells that are killed along with myeloma cells during chemotherapy. Transplantation of stem cells collected from the patient’s bone marrow before chemotherapy is known as an autologous transplant.

About 20 percent of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma also suffer from kidney failure and five percent are dependent on dialysis.

This recent …

At the Second International Congress on Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma, recently held in Istanbul, Turkey, researchers summarized the clinical results of Total Therapy trials. Total Therapy, which combines multiple-drug regimens with stem cell transplants, represents significant progress in the fight against myeloma, and its high success rates hold promise for an eventual cure.

In the Total Therapy 1 (TT1) trial, patients received chemotherapy drug regimens of VAD, CTX (cyclophosphamide), and EDAP, as well as the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan (Alkeran), to destroy cancer cells in preparation for stem cell transplant. After undergoing …

The Committee for Human Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency has recommended that the stem cell transplant drug Mozobil (plerixafor) be approved for use in the European Union.

Mozobil is used for stem cells transplants in patients with blood cancers, specifically non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Combined with other drugs that stimulate the body's production of stem cells, Mozobil helps move stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they can be collected for subsequent transplants.

Traditionally, the collection of stem cells for transplantation has been a process that extends …

A retrospective study conducted at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas will be presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the study examined the effects of autologous stem cell transplantation after combination drug therapy in 95 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients and found that transplantation improved patients' responses.

Prior to autologous stem cell transplantation, patients in the study were treated with a combination regimen of Velcade (bortezomib), Revlimid (lenalidomide), and dexamethasone (Decadron) (VRD); …

A recent article in the journal Blood reported on the long-term outcome of multiple myeloma patients each treated with two stem cell transplants.

In this study, 102 patients with multiple myeloma began treatment with high-dose melphalan (Alkeran) as a conditioning regimen. Patients then received an autologous stem cell transplant, using stem cells collected from the patient before chemotherapy. This was followed by radiation therapy.

Finally, patients received high-dose chemotherapy in combination with an allogeneic stem cell transplant, in which stem cells collected from another individual were placed into the patient’s body …

Physicians at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRS), located in the Indian city of Kolkata, have performed a bone marrow transplant on a 37-year-old multiple myeloma patient. This procedure marks the first time that a public hospital in the region has performed such a transplant.

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly, the city is home to over 15 million people, making it India's third-largest city and the 14th …