Maintenance therapy with thalidomide (Thalomid) improves progression-free survival of multiple myeloma patients but has no impact on overall survival, according to a recent study. Additionally, patients with an aggressive form of myeloma show no benefit from this treatment. The findings were presented by Dr. James Child of the United Kingdom’s Clinical Trials Research Unit at the European Hematology Association (EHA) annual meeting in Barcelona on June 13.

Maintenance therapy is long-term, often low-dose and continuous, treatment given to prevent relapse in myeloma patients who have achieved remission. Until recently, use of …

Results of a Phase 3 trial showed that the addition of thalidomide (Thalomid) to Velcade (bortezomib), melphalan (Alkeran), and prednisone (referred to as VMPT), followed by long-term treatment with Velcade and thalidomide (VT), may become the new standard of care for elderly multiple myeloma patients. The results were presented by Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the University of Turin, Italy, on June 6 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Palumbo and his colleagues compared VMPT followed by VT maintenance, which they hypothesized …

Many multiple myeloma patients are afflicted by tingling and pain in the hands, arms, feet, and legs (known as peripheral neuropathy). Treatments for myeloma can make this neuropathy worse. Dr. Paul Richardson of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discussed the prevention and management of peripheral neuropathy (PN) during an education session on June 7 at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Dr. Richardson explained that myeloma, itself, causes nerve damage that leads to the pain and tingling. Up to 20 percent of patients experience some PN prior to treatment.

Myeloma …

The combination treatment of reduced-dose Velcade (bortezomib), thalidomide (Thalomid), and dexamethasone (Decadron), abbreviated vTD, appears to be a safe and effective induction treatment for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients prior to stem cell transplantation.

The combination treatment yielded higher complete and partial remission rates, and fewer and less severe side effects, than treatment with standard dose Velcade plus dexamethasone (VD).

The vTD vs. VD findings were presented by Dr. Philippe Moreau of the University Hospital in Nantes, France, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in …

Revlimid (lenalidomide) is an effective maintenance therapy after stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma patients, according to two Phase 3 studies presented on Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Based on the results of these two studies as well as a previous study, Revlimid maintenance therapy is likely to become a common addition to the treatment of myeloma.

Dr. Sergio Giralt of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston led a discussion about these two studies during which he said, “[These are] …

The third day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 annual meeting in Chicago was tailor-made for morn­ing people interested in mul­ti­ple myeloma.  The key myeloma-related activity on Sunday, June 6 was a morn­ing abstract session start­ing at 9:30 a.m.  Nine abstracts were pre­sented and discussed over the course of three hours.

The first two pre­sen­ta­tions dealt with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib)-related re­search.

Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the Uni­ver­sity of Turin pre­sented the re­­sults of the first study.  It com­pared two regi­mens for the treat­ment of newly diag­nosed elderly myeloma patients.  The first regi­men in­volved …

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), …