Articles tagged with: Thalomid
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U.K. Agency Approves Thalidomide And Velcade For Newly Diagnosed Myeloma Patients – The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the agency that decides which treatments will be funded for patients in England and Wales, approved funding for thalidomide (Thalomid) and Velcade (bortezomib) for certain newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. According to the final guidelines, NICE approved thalidomide for patients ineligible for stem cell transplantation. Due to Velcade’s higher cost, it was approved for the same patients only if they are unable to tolerate thalidomide. Both drugs are supposed to be given in combination with an alkylating agent – e.g., melphalan (Alkeran) or cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) – and a corticosteroid – e.g., dexamethasone (Decadron) or prednisone. For more information, see the NICE website.
Australian Myeloma Specialist Receives Lifetime Achievement Award – Dr. Douglas Joshua, a myeloma expert at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia, received the Robert A. Kyle lifetime achievement award last month from the International Myeloma Foundation for his work over the past 40 years in the field of multiple myeloma. Dr. Joshua is the head of the Myeloma Research Unit and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at his hospital and has led basic and clinical research in myeloma. For more information, see the Sydney Central.
San Diego Area Workshop For Myeloma Patients And Family – The International Myeloma Foundation will hold a free, one-day workshop for myeloma patients and their family members on August 13 in La Jolla, CA. Myeloma specialist Dr. Morie Gertz from the Mayo Clinic and two other guest speakers will discuss topics important to myeloma patients and answer attendees’ questions. The workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Sheraton La Jolla and will last until 3 p.m. Lunch will be provided. For more information or to register, see the International Myeloma Foundation website.
For a more detailed listing of myeloma-related events, please check the Myeloma Beacon Events Calendar.
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Results of a recent study conducted in the United Kingdom show that elderly and transplant-ineligible multiple myeloma patients who are treated with a reduced-dose combination of cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, and dexamethasone as initial therapy achieve a greater overall response rate than patients who are treated with melphalan plus prednisone.
However, patients who received the three-drug combination had comparable overall survival and progression-free survival rates as patients who received melphalan plus prednisone. Additionally, side effects were more common among patients treated with the three-drug combination.
High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation is …
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The results of a recent study from Italy suggest that the combination treatment of melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide may increase survival in newly diagnosed elderly multiple myeloma patients compared to melphalan and prednisone alone. However, the rate of side effects increased with the addition of thalidomide.
Despite the higher rate of side effects, the study authors suggested that the combination of melphalan (Alkeran), prednisone, and thalidomide (Thalidomid) (MPT) should be considered a standard of care for newly diagnosed patients who are over 65 years old or ineligible for a …
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Results of a recent Phase 2 study indicate that a steroid-free regimen of Velcade, Doxil, and thalidomide is effective in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients.
“The most novel aspect [of the study] is that high response rates and effective disease control can be achieved without the use of [the corticosteroid] dexamethasone,” said Dr. Asher Chanan-Khan, one of the study’s investigators and a researcher at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.
“The development of such a regimen is critical as it can be used both in newly diagnosed or relapsed …
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A group of Italian researchers recently showed that consolidation therapy with Velcade, thalidomide, and dexamethasone was more effective than consolidation therapy with thalidomide and dexamethasone alone.
In particular, they found that the Velcade-based consolidation therapy yielded more high-quality responses, such as complete responses, and a high rate of molecular remission, in which patients showed no signs of remaining myeloma cells.
Dr. Michele Cavo from the Seragnoli Institute of Hematology in Bologna, Italy, presented the results at the 16th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in London last week.
In the study, …
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NICE Does Not Change Assessment Of Velcade For Myeloma – The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), the agency that decides which treatments will be funded for patients in England and Wales, announced last week that it will not change its assessment of Velcade (bortezomib) for use in multiple myeloma. In its draft guidance issued last August, NICE recommended Velcade and thalidomide (Thalomid) as first-line treatments for multiple myeloma patients ineligible for stem cell transplant or high-dose chemotherapy. However, Velcade was only recommended as a first-line treatment for patients who cannot tolerate thalidomide. Janssen-Cilag, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that markets Velcade in Europe, appealed the draft guidance; however, NICE continues to consider thalidomide more cost effective. The final NICE decision is expected in July. For information, please see a related Bloomberg article.
MD Anderson Cancer Center Announces Start Of Phase 1 Trial With CEP-18770 In Myeloma – The MD Anderson Cancer Center announced last week that it will be starting a Phase 1 trial to test the efficacy and safety of CEP-18770 in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients. CEP-18770 is a boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitor, like Velcade, that is being developed by the biopharmaceutical company Cephalon. It suppresses tumor growth by inhibiting the enzymes that break down important proteins in cancerous cells. Animal studies showed that CEP-18770 demonstrated superior activity to Velcade, and it caused fewer side effects during treatment. For more information, please see the clinical trial description.
Immune System Therapeutics Expands Phase 2 Trial For MDX-1097 In Myeloma – The Australian bio-therapeutic company Immune System Therapeutics announced last week that it will be expanding the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of its investigational drug MDX-1097 to include up to 27 myeloma patients. MDX-1097 is an antibody that binds to certain proteins on the surface of myeloma cells, triggering the immune system to kill the cancer cells. Immune System Therapeutics decided to extend the trial after it received a positive review for the efficacy and safety of the first six patients enrolled in the study from an independent data monitoring committee. For information, please see the Immune System Therapeutics press release.
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Results of a recent Italian study show that a four-drug combination regimen of Velcade, Doxil, dexamethasone, and thalidomide may be more effective than two- or three-drug combinations for multiple myeloma patients who have relapsed or are resistant to prior treatment.
“This study clearly reinforced the idea that aggressive therapy, even in the second-line relapse setting, is of great value,” said Dr. Mario Curti, a hematologist at Los Alamitos Medical Center in Los Alamitos, California, who was not involved in the study. “It allows another treatment option to be considered in the relapse …
