Articles tagged with: Velcade
NewsFlash »
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 In its draft guidance issued last August, NICE recommended Velcade and thalidomide (Thalomid) as first-line treatments for multiple myeloma patients ineligible for stem cell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 Janssen-Cilag, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that markets Velcade in Europe, appealed the draft guidance; however, NICE continues to consider thalidomide more cost effective.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.
News»
Results of a Phase 1 clinical trial suggest that the investigational drug LY2127399 in combination with Velcade is safe and effective enough to deserve further study as a potential treatment for multiple myeloma.
“We are very encouraged by these results and would like to move this forward to a randomized trial comparing LY2127399 and Velcade with Velcade alone,” said Dr. Noopur Raje, from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute when she presented these findings at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on Sunday.
Dr. Nikhil Munshi from the Dana-Farber …
Opinion»
I have written about the challenges and frustrations of “watchful waiting” here in the past.
I believe this is one of the most challenging aspects of living with multiple myeloma—sometimes all we can do is watch and wait for our myeloma to return.
But something exciting happened to me today, which has changed my whole attitude about this. I would like to share the details with you now.
During a follow-up appointment with my myeloma specialist, Dr. Melissa Alsina from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Alsina became concerned about …
News»
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 …
News»
Friday was the last day of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris. The agenda for the day was briefer than the previous days of the conference. Talks ran from the early morning through mid-afternoon.
The morning began with a session in which myeloma specialists presented consensus reports on vaccination and infection prevention, the management of anemia, blood clots in deep veins, and bone disease. The Myeloma Beacon will be covering these reports in more detail over the next few weeks.
Throughout the rest of the morning, researchers presented results from ongoing …
News»
Thursday was the third day of the International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris. There were presentations from early morning through the evening.
Some of the highlights from the first part of Day 3 of the conference are summarized in this article. Highlights from the second part of the day are summarized in a separate article (see related Beacon news).
Treating Older, Newly Diagnosed Myeloma Patients
The first session of the morning was about treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients over the age of 65 years, specifically those who are ineligible for …
NewsFlash »
Millennium And Takeda Apply For FDA Approval Of Subcutaneous Velcade – Millennium and Takeda, the companies that market Velcade, have submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of Velcade (bortezomib) to be administered subcutaneously (injected into the fat just below the skin). Currently, Velcade is approved to be administered intravenously. Recent results have shown that subcutaneous Velcade is as effective as IV Velcade, but subcutaneous administration reduces the frequency and seriousness of side effects. In particular, the rate of peripheral neuropathy (pain and tingling in the extremities) dropped from 16 percent to 6 percent. Additionally, many patients may consider subcutaneous injections more convenient because they can be administered from home. For more information, see the Millennium press release or the Beacon’s coverage of the results comparing the efficacy and side effects of the two routes of administration.
Highlights From The 13th International Myeloma Workshop – The 13th International Myeloma Workshop will be held in Paris tomorrow through Friday. Staff from The Myeloma Beacon will be attending and reporting live from the meeting. The Beacon’s coverage will include brief “as it happens” summaries of presentations to be posted to the Beacon forums as well as daily update articles that summarize the day’s events and key presentations. Discussion threads have been created in the forums for each day of the meeting (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4). All Beacon readers are welcome to participate in the discussions. The Beacon’s coverage of the Workshop is made possible in part by financial support from the Tackle Cancer Foundation.
After the conclusion of the Workshop, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) will sponsor a teleconference for patients and caregivers in which myeloma specialists will present highlights from the meeting. Dr. Thierry Facon from the University of Lille in France as well as Dr. Paul Richardson from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will present the latest advances in myeloma treatment. Their presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. The call will take place on May 6 from noon till 1 p.m. Eastern time. For more information or to register, see the MMRF event website.
Multiple Myeloma Education Programs – Two educational programs for multiple myeloma patients will be held on May 14. Dr. Jeff Wolf will speak at the event held in San Jose, CA, and Dr. Ronjay Rakkit will speak at the event in Houston. The physicians will also answer patients’ questions. In addition, a multiple myeloma patient will speak at each program. Attendees can also connect with others at the event who have been affected by myeloma. Both events are sponsored by Millennium. For more information, see the Beacon event descriptions (San Jose, Houston). To register, call 1-866-508-6181.
