How has your week been, myeloma world?

Summer definitely is here at Myeloma Morning Headquarters. We had temper­a­tures yesterday and today that rival those normally seen in early August.

We're not exactly sure how we feel about this devel­op­ment.

As for myeloma-related news, we have a lot of ground to cover.

We have one new myeloma research study that we summarize at length. It's about a difficult subject, namely, the impact of early relapse on the over­all survival of multiple myeloma patients. It's a difficult subject be­cause, not surprisingly, early re­lapse con­tinues …

Liebe Myelomwelt, Ihnen allen einen schönen Samstag.

Wir haben heute über einige gute Nachrichten zu berichten. Es handelt sich dabei auch um wichtige Nachrichten über Darzalex (Daratumumab).

Anfang der Woche wurden einige neue Studienergebnisse veröffentlicht, denen jedoch nicht viel Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt wurde.

Diese neuen Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Zugabe von Darzalex zu Velcade (Bortezomib) und Dexamethason das progressionsfreie Überleben bei rezidivierten Myelompatienten wesentlich - einige sagen, sogar drastisch – verlängert. Die neuen Ergebnisse gehen über die Nachrichten, die bereits Ende März bekannt gegeben wurden und über die wir in einer vorherigen Ausgabe …

A happy Saturday to you, myeloma world.

We have some good news to report today. It also is im­por­tant news related to Darzalex (dara­tu­mu­mab).

Some addi­tional clin­i­cal trial results related to Darzalex were made public earlier this week, but they have not received much attention.

The new results show that adding Darzalex to Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) and dexa­metha­sone sub­stan­tially – some might even say dramatically – extends pro­gres­sion-free survival in re­lapsed multiple myeloma patients.

The new results expand on news announced at the end of March, which we covered in …

A happy Tuesday to you, myeloma world.

We have some in­ter­est­ing re­search to share with you.

First, we have re­­sults of a Phase 2 study investi­gating Empliciti (elotuzu­mab) in com­bi­na­tion with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) and dexa­metha­sone (Decadron) in re­lapsed and re­frac­tory myeloma patients. The re­­sults show that Empliciti plus Velcade and dexa­metha­sone im­proves pro­gres­sion-free sur­vival com­pared to Velcade and dexa­metha­sone alone, without adding any sig­nif­i­cant side effects.

We also report on a study out of Italy that explores using Treanda (benda­mustine) in addi­tion to mel­phalan (Alkeran) as the high-dose chemo­therapy …

Before I get started, I want to share good news about my ongoing myeloma therapy.

If you recall, after a recent relapse, my doctors and I had decided to try adding Revlimid (lenalidomide) to my doublet of Velcade (bortezomib) and dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) one last time, hoping it might still work.  Although it has only been two months, the combination does seem to be helping; my M-spike has dropped from 0.5 g/dL down to 0.4 g/dL, or 20 percent.

But enough about me!

I recently heard from …

This Monday was the third day of the 2013 American Society of Hema­tol­o­gy (ASH) annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans.

More than any other day of the conference, Monday was packed with im­por­tant myeloma pre­sen­ta­tions, from 7:00 in the morning until almost 8:00 in the eve­ning.

This ASH update will summarize the oral pre­sen­ta­tion sessions about treat­ment-related myeloma studies that were held Monday morning. An ASH update that was pub­lished on Wednesday focused on the sessions that were held Monday afternoon and evening.

Monday morning started with three simultaneous …

Results from a recent retrospective analysis conducted in Germany indicate that the com­bi­na­tion of Velcade plus Treanda and pred­ni­sone is effective for re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma pa­tients with kidney im­pair­ment.

Specifically, 67 percent of pa­tients responded to the treatment, and kidney func­tion improved in 86 percent of pa­tients. The study investigators point out that the responses were rapid, with a median time to response of three weeks.  With a median progression-free survival of 10 months, some pa­tients experienced a long-term treatment-free interval.

Most of the severe side effects of the com­bi­na­tion …