Results of a recent Canadian study show that the use of novel agents, particularly Velcade and Revlimid, as salvage therapy after stem cell transplantation improves overall survival and post-relapse survival of multiple myeloma patients, including high-risk patients who relapsed early following transplantation.

Although multiple myeloma remains an incurable disease, the introduction of novel agents, such as thalidomide (Thalomid), Velcade (bortezomib), and Revlimid (lenalidomide) has lead to significant improvements in disease outcomes.

In their analysis, the Canadian researchers sought to determine the effect of these novel agents on…

Results of a recent study show that multiple myeloma patients who were initially treated with either thalidomide or Revlimid demonstrated strong responses to treatment with Revlimid and pomalidomide following relapse. In particular, researchers observed the highest response rates in patients who received treatment with pomalidomide.

Dr. Sumit Madan of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, presented the study results at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Orlando last month.

Research has previously shown that thalidomide (Thalomid) and Revlimid (lenalidomide), which belong to the same class…

According to the results of a large Phase 3 clinical trial, Zometa increases overall and progression-free survival rates among multiple myeloma patients compared to Bonefos and is more effective in preventing bone loss and fractures.  Additonally, the trial found that inclusion of thalidomide as part of an induction regimen further improved responses. 

Dr. Gareth Morgan of the Royal Marsden Hospital in London presented the results, recently published in The Lancet (abstract), at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in Orlando today.

“I think it is incredibly compelling…

The International Myeloma Working Group, comprised of many of the world’s top myeloma experts, recently published a report that evaluated the use of key proteins to assess the severity of multiple myeloma-related bone disease. The group determined that some of these proteins are useful in monitoring bone metabolism and skeletal complications during myeloma treatments.

The majority of multiple myeloma patients suffer from bone disease. Approximately 20 percent of patients experience a fracture at the time of their myeloma diagnosis, and 60 percent of patients experience a fracture as their myeloma…

The results of a recent Phase 2 clinical trial indicate that the new drug Istodax, administered alone, is unlikely to achieve a significant response rate in therapy-resistant multiple myeloma patients. However, the results indicate that that Istodax may help stabilize M-protein production, resolve high calcium levels, or reduce bone pain in some multiple myeloma patients.

Istodax (romidepsin) is a cyclic peptide that inhibits an enzyme in cancer cells known as histone deacetylase (HDAC). By inhibiting HDAC, Istodax disrupts the cell cycle and causes cancer cell death. Istodax is marketed by…