Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) says it is deeply worried that the American Health Care Act (AHCA) — which narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4 and now goes to the Senate for consideration — will have serious consequences for multiple myeloma patients and others with pre-existing…

A new documentary, “200 Miles,” tells the inspiring story of ultra-marathoner Eric Gelber’s determination to complete 33 loops of New York’s Central Park to honor a friend who died of multiple myeloma. Gelber, who became a multiple myeloma advocate when his friend Anita Sorrell was battling the cancer before her…

Multiple myeloma patients who received at least three prior lines of therapy and whose cancer expresses the CD33 molecule may enroll in the recently opened Phase 1 clinical trial at Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, part of Baylor Health Care, in Dallas, Texas. The open-label, single-arm trial (NCT02998047)…

Don Wright, the 76-year-old marathon runner who recently reached his goal of running 100 marathons after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, ran Philadelphia’s Miles for Myeloma 5K on April 22, in preparation for his 101st marathon in June. Patient Power, a nonprofit advocacy group, reported that Wright hopes to serve as an…

Patients with multiple myeloma soon may be diagnosed and followed solely with the use of a blood sample, avoiding the painful process of collecting a bone marrow biopsy. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a microfluidic device that grabs plasma cells — the myeloma cancer cells —…

The small molecule immunomodulatory drug tasquinimod has been designated an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of multiple myeloma, according to Active Biotech. Tasquinimod has been developed primarily for the treatment of prostate cancer, but its mechanism of action suggests that it could be…

Syrian-born hematologist-oncologist Ahmad Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA, will lead an innovative program at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center for treating blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, leukemia and lymphoma. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins, Al-Homsi will set up an haploidentical transplant program at Perlmutter, in which partially matched people can…

Amgen submitted a supplemental Biologics Licence Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking to expand the indication of Xgeva (denosumab) to patients with multiple myeloma. Xgeva is used to prevent skeletal-related events (SREs), including fractures, spinal cord compression, or the need for surgery or…

Kite Pharma’s genetically modified T-cell therapy KITE-585 has delayed tumor progression and increased survival in mice with multiple myeloma, according to a preclinical-trial study. The company presented the findings in a verbal presentation and poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2017 Annual Meeting in Washington April…

Poseida Therapeutics‘ P-BCMA-101 eradicates tumors in mouse models of multiple myeloma and creates memory T-cells that go on the attack when the disease returns, preclinical trial studies indicate. The treatment also prolonged the mice’s survival better than other CAR T-cell treatments, the company said. CAR T-cell therapies use patients’ own immune…