Three studies presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando support the use of Revlimid as maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma patients.

In two studies, Revlimid (lenalidomide) maintenance increased time to disease progression among multiple myeloma patients after stem cell transplantation.

A third study showed the same benefit for older newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are not candidates for stem cell transplantation.

Side effects were minor across all three studies. However, the researchers did observe the occurrence of secondary cancers in…

This Monday was the third full day of the American Society of Hematology 2010 annual meeting, and it was packed with multiple myeloma-related presentations.  The Beacon published an update earlier today covering presentations made Monday morning.  This article covers material from Monday afternoon and evening.

The first presentation of the afternoon was by Dr. Ruben Niesvizky of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.  He reported on the results of a Phase 3 trial using Velcade (bortezomib)-based initial treatment (induction) regimens combined with weekly Velcade maintenance therapy (abstract).

Patients in this trial…

Monday was the third full day of “ASH 2010,” this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.  This day was the busiest of the entire meeting in terms of multiple myeloma-related material.  Presentations summarizing the latest myeloma research stretched from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The morning presentations from Monday will be covered in this update, and presentations from the afternoon and evening will be covered in another update later today.

The day featured a large number of presentations and posters about Velcade (bortezomib), examining its…

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 Beacon news 1, 2, and 3).

However,…

The results of a recent study suggest that donor stem cell transplants may not be necessary as part of first line therapy for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. These findings were presented at the recent European Hematology Association (EHA) meeting held in Barcelona, Spain.

Despite its frequent use in the treatment of multiple myeloma, stem cell transplantation remains a risky procedure with many possible complications.

Patients can either receive their own stem cells during this procedure (autologous stem cell transplant) or receive the stem cells from a healthy donor (allogeneic…