Preliminary results from an ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial suggest that carfilzomib in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and low-dose dexamethasone (Decadron) is well-tolerated over extended periods of therapy in patients who have relapsed or are resistant (refractory) to previous myeloma treatment. The findings were presented Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Carfilzomib is a new therapy being developed by Onyx Pharmaceuticals and studied for the treatment of patients with relapsed…

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…

Celgene, the manufacturer of Revlimid (lenalidomide), announced today positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial using Revlimid as first-line therapy for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. Results show that Revlimid in combination with melphalan (Alkeran) and prednisone, followed by continuous Revlimid, significantly improved time to tumor progression.

Check back for further coverage on The Myeloma Beacon.

Update: Please see The Myeloma Beacon’s full coverage of Revlimid as a first-line therapy for myeloma.

The health care system in the United Kingdom is making more treatment options available to terminally ill patients.

In England and Wales, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decides which treatments will be made available under the state-funded National Health Service.  Until recently, NICE refused to approve the use of any drug costing more than £30,000 ($44,000) for each extra year of good health attributable to the drug.

On January 2, NICE issued new guidelines to approve,…