Phil Brabbs, a software product manager and former kicker for the University of Michigan football team, was diagnosed with smoldering multiple myeloma the day after his 28th birthday. “At 28, looking at my son who was two, you think, ‘Will this kid ever remember me?’ It was really frightening,” he said.

“To get a cancer diagnosis when it seems like you’re doing everything right – you don’t smoke, you drink modestly, you exercise – it was quite shocking. But I…

The preliminary findings of a Phase 3 trial suggest that Revlimid (lenalidomide) improves the complete response rate in multiple myeloma patients who had undergone an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Researchers presented the results of the trial at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting in December 2009.

In mid-January, Celgene further announced that, based on an interim analysis reviewed by an independent committee, the Phase 3 trial has met an additional primary endpoint. Patients on Revlimid showed better…

The results of a recent Phase 3 clinical trial indicate that treatment with high-dose melphalan (Alkeran) prior to a stem cell transplant results in a longer period of remission for myeloma patients than treatment with reduced-intensity melphalan. The differences in remission duration were larger for patients younger than 60 years old.

Based on the significant difference in progression-free survival between the two treatment groups, the researchers concluded that high-dose (200 mg/m²) melphalan is more effective in preparing younger, medically…

The findings of a new study suggest that a combination regimen of Velcade (bortezomib), thalidomide (Thalomid), and prednisone, abbreviated as VTP, is as effective as the standard combination of Velcade, melphalan (Alkeran), and prednisone, abbreviated as VMP, in the treatment of elderly patients with multiple myeloma. The trial also discovered that the addition of maintenance therapy led to increased response rates. Researchers presented their Phase 3 study results at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) 51st…

ASH 2009 Conference Prompts Doctors To Change Myeloma Treatment Practices, Study Finds – A study conducted by Majestic Marketing Research Group discovered that 43 percent of doctors surveyed intend to change their multiple myeloma treatment practices based on results presented at the American Society of Hematology’s 2009 meeting. Most of these changes will increase use of either Velcade (bortezomib) or Revlimid (lenalidomide). The MM-015 study evaluating a Revlimid combination (see related Beacon news) left a particularly strong…