Multiple Myeloma

A data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has found that a phase III study of pomalidomide, an oral immunomodulatory agent, met its primary endpoint by demonstrating a significant improvement in progression-free survival for patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

The goal in treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma is to achieve deep remission and prevent relapse, which is best achieved by targeted combination therapy very early in the course of disease.

It is important for oncologists to monitor, design, and administer appropriate bone health treatments at the earliest stages for the 80% to 90% of patients with multiple myeloma who develop osteolytic bone lesions.

A new generation of proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents, and deacetylase inhibitors are currently being investigated in clinical trials to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Researchers have identified more than a dozen pathways and factors involving bone disease in patients with multiple myeloma who are at the highest risk of developing complications.

Lenalidomide used continuously after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation significantly prolonged the time to disease progression and overall survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Two separate clinical trials presented at ASCO 2012 suggest that carfilzomib would be a safe and effective alternative to bortezomib for the treatment of multiple myeloma, following progression.

Bortezomib represented a major discovery in cancer research and has helped some patients achieve a complete pathological response and live longer.

The FDA approved carfilzomib for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior lines of therapy.

A closer look at the hematology pipeline where there are multiple promising studies in progress for hematologic malignancies, including lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma.

ODAC voted 11-0 in support of carfilzomib as a new treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma, despite side effect concerns raised by the FDA.

Michael Eckenfels, RN, OCN, from MD Anderson Cancer Center, on Changes to the Bortezomib Delivery Route.

Elotuzumab demonstrated notable response rates as combination therapy in a phase II study of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Continuous treatment with lenalidomide given early prolonged the time to progression, compared with no treatment in patients with high-risk, asymptomatic, smoldering, multiple myeloma.

Vorinostat added to bortezomib improved progression-free survival compared with bortezomib plus placebo in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

Dr. Sundar Jagannath, from Mount Sinai Medical Center, Discusses the VANTAGE Trials

A closer look at 2 investigational agents, carlfilzomib and pomalidomide, that were featured at the 53rd American Society of Hematology annual meeting.

Dr. Sundar Jagannath from the Tisch Cancer Institute Discusses HDAC Inhibitors for Multiple Myeloma

A number of studies suggest that there is a right and wrong way to proceed with initial therapy and transplant eligibility for patients with multiple myeloma.

Dr. James Berenson, from the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research, on Zometa as the Gold Standard for MM

Novel therapeutics, including thalidomide, lenalidomide (Revlimid), and bortezomib (Velcade), have revolutionized the treatment of multiple myeloma.

The FDA has deemed subcutaneous injection as a safe and valid method of delivering the drug bortezomib in patients with multiple myeloma.

Bone disease occurs in about 84% of patients with multiple myeloma and is responsible for a great deal of morbidity, including pain, hypercalcemia, compromised quality of life, and pathological fracture.

The availability of effective novel agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma - including thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib - has validated the concept of maintenance therapy in myeloma patients.

Dr. James Berenson from the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research Discusses the Carfilzomib Toxicity Profile