At the Second International Congress on Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma, recently held in Istanbul, Turkey, researchers summarized the clinical results of Total Therapy trials. Total Therapy, which combines multiple-drug regimens with stem cell transplants, represents significant progress in the fight against myeloma, and its high success rates hold promise for an eventual cure.

In the Total Therapy 1 (TT1) trial, patients received chemotherapy drug regimens of VAD, CTX (cyclophosphamide), and EDAP, as well as the chemotherapeutic agent melphalan (Alkeran), to destroy cancer cells in preparation for stem cell transplant.…

The Committee for Human Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency has recommended that the stem cell transplant drug Mozobil (plerixafor) be approved for use in the European Union.

Mozobil is used for stem cells transplants in patients with blood cancers, specifically non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Combined with other drugs that stimulate the body’s production of stem cells, Mozobil helps move stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they can be collected for subsequent transplants.

Traditionally, the collection of stem cells for transplantation has been a process…

A retrospective study conducted at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas will be presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the study examined the effects of autologous stem cell transplantation after combination drug therapy in 95 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients and found that transplantation improved patients’ responses.

Prior to autologous stem cell transplantation, patients in the study were treated with a combination regimen of Velcade (bortezomib), Revlimid (lenalidomide), and dexamethasone…

Physicians at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRS), located in the Indian city of Kolkata, have performed a bone marrow transplant on a 37-year-old multiple myeloma patient. This procedure marks the first time that a public hospital in the region has performed such a transplant.

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly, the city is home to over 15 million people, making it India’s third-largest city and…

Numerous treatment options are available to multiple myeloma patients, with the therapeutic objective of inducing complete remission (CR) or at least very good partial remission (VGPR).

In the American Society of Hematology’s recent Education Program Book, “Hematology,” researcher Jean-Luc Harousseau compares treatment regimens with and without a stem cell transplant component. In addition, he examines the mounting belief that complete remission, a potentially unreliable prognostic indicator, should cease to be the therapeutic goal in all situations.

Comparison: Treatment With and Without Stem Cell Transplant

During initial…