The 10-year follow-up results of a Phase 2 trial suggest that thalidomide increases the median time to disease progression in smoldering multiple myeloma patients who respond to treatment.

However, researchers also observed an increased rate of side effects compared to earlier results. They therefore do not recommend the use of thalidomide in smoldering myeloma patients.

Approximately 10 to 15 percent of all myeloma patients have smoldering myeloma, a slow-growing form of the disease that often appears without symptoms. Approximately 73…

A recent study showed that maintenance therapy with thalidomide and interferon delayed progression, but did not extend survival, in elderly multiple myeloma patients. Additionally, the thalidomide-interferon maintenance therapy caused slightly more side effects than maintenance therapy with interferon alone.

Previous studies have indicated that in younger patients, maintenance therapy with thalidomide (Thalomid) after stem cell transplantation resulted in increased progression-free survival time in all trials and in increased overall survival time in two out of five trials (see related…

A recent study reported that long-term surviving myeloma patients are generally younger and have received and responded well to treatment with conventional chemotherapy. Dr. M. Kraj of the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine in Warsaw, Poland, presented the findings at the European Hematology Association (EHA) meeting in Barcelona last month.

Dr. Kraj and her colleagues aimed to identify common clinical and laboratory features in long-term surviving myeloma patients, as these may assist physicians in determining an accurate prognosis for…

Maintenance therapy with thalidomide (Thalomid) improves progression-free survival of multiple myeloma patients but has no impact on overall survival, according to a recent study. Additionally, patients with an aggressive form of myeloma show no benefit from this treatment. The findings were presented by Dr. James Child of the United Kingdom’s Clinical Trials Research Unit at the European Hematology Association (EHA) annual meeting in Barcelona on June 13.

Maintenance therapy is long-term, often low-dose and continuous, treatment given to prevent…

Preliminary results from two ongoing clinical trials suggest that elotuzumab in combination with either Velcade (bortezomib) or Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is effective and well-tolerated in patients who have relapsed or are resistant (refractory) to previous myeloma treatment. The findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Elotuzumab is a new drug being developed by Facet Biotech and Bristol-Myers Squibb as a potential treatment for…