A Phase 1 clinical trial recently reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research indicated that the novel drug combination of Velcade (bortezomib) and Zolinza (vorinostat) may be effective in patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma.

Previous preclinical results suggested that Zolinza enhances Velcade’s therapeutic effect. However, this is the first clinical trial to describe the combination of a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (Zolinza) and a proteasome inhibitor (Velcade) in heavily pre-treated relapsed or refractory myeloma patients.

The Phase 1 clinical trial monitored 23 patients with relapsed and/or refractory …

The multi-center randomized Phase 3 double-blind clinical trial of Zolinza (vorinostat) or placebo in combination with Velcade (bortezomib) will be opening soon. The study will be conducted under Dr. Sundar Jagannath, Chief of the Multiple Myeloma Program at St. Vincent’s Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York.

In combination with the recently announced Phase 2B open-label clinical trial of Velcade plus Zolinza, Dr. Jagannath hopes that this Phase 3 trial will help to explore the effects of combining Zolinza and Velcade.

Zolinza, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, is already approved …

The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) announced Friday that it will partner with Merck & Co. to initiate Phase 2B clinical trials of Zolinza (vorinostat) in combination with Velcade (bortezomib). The trial is currently open for the enrollment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.

Zolinza, an oral histone deacetylase inhibitor that increases the cellular proteins that prevent cancer, has previously been approved for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Velcade has been previously approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

As a Phase 2 trial, …

Zolinza (vorinostat), a drug already approved for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of multiple myeloma.  Preliminary results look encouraging.

The drug is the first in a class called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to be approved for cancer treatment.

The majority of chemotherapy drugs work by attacking cancer cell DNA with the intention of damaging it. HDAC inhibitors work differently. They alter the way DNA is converted into proteins.

DNA is arranged in chromosomes, which wrap around proteins called histones. HDAC helps control the unfolding of DNA …