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 …

A recent British analysis of data from a major clinical trial found that thalidomide maintenance therapy did not have a uniformly positive impact on overall survival in multiple myeloma patients.

In fact, overall survival for patients in the trial who received thalidomide maintenance was slightly lower than overall survival for patients who did not receive maintenance therapy.  The difference, however, was not statistically significant.

In contrast, progression free survival was significantly longer for patients who received thalidomide maintenance compared to patients who were not on a maintenance regimen.

The study findings thereby …

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 …

The results of a recent British analysis found that multiple myeloma patients with a deletion in chromosome 17 who received thalidomide induction therapy had improved response rates compared to those who did not receive thalidomide. 

These improved response rates also were accompanied by improve­ments in patients' overall survival, but the improvements were not statistically significant.

Moreover, patients with a deletion in chromosome 17 who received thalidomide as part of a maintenance regimen had shorter overall survival than those who did not receive thalidomide maintenance.

Based on these findings, the study authors conclude that alternative …

Newly diagnosed, high-risk multiple myeloma patients can be effectively treated with sequential therapy, according to the results of a recent Phase 2 study.  Participants in this study initially received a combination of Velcade, Doxil, and dexamethasone followed by a combination of thalidomide and dexamethasone, with the potential addition of Velcade to the second phase.

The study authors found that the sequential treatment provided rapid responses, which they said is crucial for patients with organ damage or those with advanced disease who need to quickly proceed to stem cell transplantation.

They suggested that …