Results from three Chinese clinical trials indicate that the investigational drug circularly permuted TRAIL may be effective alone or in combination with thalidomide in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients.

However, further testing of the drug is necessary to determine its optimal dose.

Dr. Wenming Chen from the Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University in Beijing presented the findings from the three studies last week at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Atlanta.

Circularly Permuted TRAIL (CPT) is being developed by Beijing Sunbio Biotech as a treatment for multiple …

Yesterday was the sec­ond day of the 2012 American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) annual meeting, which is being held in Atlanta.

The day's myeloma-related pre­sen­ta­tions began in the afternoon with three sessions of oral pre­sen­ta­tions.  Two of the sessions focused on re­­sults from clin­i­cal trials, most of which studied drugs that are still being devel­oped for the treat­ment of mul­ti­ple myeloma.  The third session, which focused on the biology of myeloma, ran simultaneously with one of the sessions about clin­i­cal trial re­­sults.

An up­date pub­lished yes­ter­day evening summarized the re­­sults for the …

This year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, which is being held in Atlanta, began yesterday and goes through Tuesday.

Today’s myeloma-related presentations began this afternoon with three sessions of oral presentations.  Two of the sessions focused on results from clin­i­cal trials, most of which studied drugs that are still under devel­op­ment as poten­tial treat­ments for multiple myeloma.  The third session, which focused on the biology of myeloma, ran simultaneously with one of the sessions about clin­i­cal trial results.

This article will summarize the first oral session about multiple myeloma treat­ments, …

The results of a recent retrospective study suggest that treatment with Velcade or thalidomide may increase multiple myeloma patients’ risk of developing abnormal lung function.

Specifically, patients treated with Velcade (bortezomib)-based regimens were twice as likely to develop lung obstruction, and those treated with thalidomide (Thalomid)-based regimens were twice as likely to develop lung restriction.

However, the study investigators note that their study did not include information about lung disease patients may have had before their myeloma therapy.  The researchers acknowledge that this could affect the interpretation of the study …

Results from a recently completed Phase 3 trial suggest that thalidomide may delay disease progression in patients with smoldering myeloma.

Specifically, patients in the trial who received thalidomide in combination with Zometa had a noticeably longer time to disease progression than patients who received Zometa alone.

Over a third of the patients who received thalidomide and Zometa also showed a tumor response, whereas none of the patients treated with Zometa alone had such a response.

However, more patients who received the thalidomide- Zometa combination experienced peripheral neuropathy (pain, tingling, or loss of …

Results from a Spanish Phase 3 clinical trial suggest that initial treatment with a combination of Velcade, thalidomide, and dexamethasone may lead to better responses before and after stem cell transplantation, as compared to treatment with thalidomide and dexamethasone alone. In addition, treatment with the three-drug combination increases progression-free survival time.

The study investigators concluded that their findings support the use of a combination of Velcade (bortezomib), thalidomide (Thalomid), and dexamethasone (Decadron), often referred to as VTD, as initial treatment in newly diagnosed myeloma patients who are eligible for …

Results of a recent Spanish study suggest that elderly multiple myeloma patients who receive Velcade plus thalidomide or Velcade plus pred­nisone as maintenance therapy achieve deeper responses following initial therapy with Velcade-based treatment regimens.

In addition, elderly myeloma patients who receive Velcade plus thalido­mide as maintenance therapy may achieve better treatment outcomes and longer survival rates than patients who receive Velcade plus pred­nisone as maintenance therapy.

“In our trial, VT [Velcade plus thalidomide] was slightly superior to VP [Velcade plus prednisone] in response rate and outcome, but the dif­ferences didn't reach statistical …