Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

Inhibiting a key protein in the tumor microenvironment using Noxxon’s experimental agent NOX-A12 may enhance the clinical activity of immunotherapies that boost T-cells or natural killer cells, according to preclinical data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress in Copenhagen. NOX-A12 (olaptesed pegol) is currently in…

Amgen announced that its RANKL inhibitor, Xgeva (denosumab) met its primary endpoint in a  Phase 3 trial as a potential treatment for bone complications in multiple myeloma — that of non-inferior results, compared to zoledronic acid, in delaying the time to a first, on-study skeletal-related event in newly diagnosed patients. But the trial failed to…

A three-drug therapy combination consisting of Darzalex (daratumumab) with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Decadron (dexamethasone) shows real potential in increasing survival in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to an interim analysis of a Phase 3 trial. But the data in the study, “Daratumumab,…

High-risk multiple myeloma patients may benefit markedly from galinpepimut-S, an experimental immunotherapy from SELLAS Life Sciences, following autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), according to recent data from a Phase 2 clinical trial showing that the agent nearly doubles the progression-free survival rates compared to historical controls who received ASCT alone.

Robots can do all sorts of tasks to improve cancer treatment and now researchers have added room cleaning to the list. Indeed, Robots that use ultraviolet light (UV) to clean hospital rooms reduce the rates of hospital-acquired infections among blood cancer patients, one of the most vulnerable groups of patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving priority review to a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to approve Genmab‘s Darzalex (daratumumab) in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Decadron (dexamethasone), or with Velcade (bortezomib) and Decadron, to treat multiple myeloma patients who have received at…

The communication between multiple myeloma cells and healthy bone marrow cells is an important step in disease progression, researchers have found, showing that multiple myeloma cells can cause changes in the nonmalignant bone marrow constituents that support the growth of malignant cells. The study, “Multiple myeloma cells…

Treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with a combination of Kyprolis (carfilzomib), Alkeran (melphalan), and prednisone does not yield superior outcomes, compared to the triple combination of Velcade (bortezomib), Alkeran, and prednisone, according to recent results of a Phase 3 trial. During the last decade, proteasome inhibition has emerged as an effective therapeutic strategy…

BioInvent International has received further patent protection in China, Japan, and Russia covering the use of BI-505 in cancer patients who have failed to respond to, or relapsed after, prior therapies. These patents add to those previously granted in these countries, as well as in Europe and the United States, covering…

Newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are using statins have lower mortality rates than those who don’t, a large population-based cohort study reported. In the study, “Statins Are Associated With Reduced Mortality in Multiple Myeloma,” published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers at St.