I try to make a point about not talking in my column too much about whatever symptom, side effect, or malady is affecting me at any particular time.

But suffice it to say that lately there has been a lot going on with me, and it has brought to the forefront that inevitable discussion about what to do next should my current treatment regimen of Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) start to fail.

I’ve discussed this prospect at various times over the past year with the handful of…

It has been ten days since the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) came to a close.

Since the meeting started, The Beacon has been providing detailed coverage in the form of discussion forum postings, daily updates, and in-depth articles about key research findings.

In this and The Beacon’s next article about the meeting, however, the per­spective changes a bit.

The focus shifts to the bigger picture — to questions like: “What was the impact of the…

The afternoon sessions of the third day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting in San Diego were just as awash with myeloma-related presentations as were the morning sessions.

Many of the afternoon sessions were devoted to two particular potential new myeloma treatments: carfilzomib and pomalidome.

Those presentations will be covered in this article, while presentation from the afternoon sessions that were about other new therapies will be summarized in the final daily update for the meeting’s third day.

Carfilzomib

Carfilzomib is an investigational drug that belongs…

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. company developing carfilzomib as a potential new treatment for multiple myeloma, announced earlier today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “standard review designation” to the company’s New Drug Applica­tion for carfilzomib.

This means that the FDA expects to make a decision by July 27, 2012, on Onyx’s application to market carfilzomib in the United States.

The announcement is a disappointment for Onyx, which had hoped to receive a so-called “priority review” of the carfilzomib application.

The target FDA review time for…

Yesterday was the first day of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting, which is being held in San Diego.

Although the day featured no oral presentations of new myeloma-related research, it started with an interesting educational session focused on multiple myeloma.

There also were a number of poster presentations during the day summarizing important new research findings.

The educational session in the morning featured three presentations by leading myeloma specialists.

Induction Therapy And Maintenance Treatment

The first presentation was by Dr. Donna Reece of the Princess Margaret…