Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

The patient-led Global Myeloma Action Network (GMAN) recently designated March 30 as International Myeloma Action Day to raise awareness of multiple myeloma, advocate for early detection and guarantee worldwide treatment. March is already Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month. To mark the last Thursday of the month with this honor, GMAN launched its…

The first-ever Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) Patient Summit was held March 25 in Denver to help patients and caregivers learn more about the cancer. The MMRF Patient Summit was free of charge for participants. The event was chaired by Robert Rifkin, MD, from the Rocky Mountain…

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a class of drugs in which a cancer-targeting therapy is attached to a specific monoclonal antibody without harming healthy cells, continue to revolutionize the field of cancer treatment. Researchers from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a method to improve the stability, potency, and…

By activating the immune system, the experimental drug LCL161 has the potential to fight myeloma in both mice and humans, according to a new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic. The study, “IAP antagonists induce anti-tumor immunity in multiple myeloma,” appeared in Nature Medicine.

The cancer charity Myeloma UK has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial testing Reolysin (pelareorep), a modulator of the immune system and cytotoxic agent, in myeloma patients. The MUK eleven Phase 1 study (NCT03015922) will test the safety and tolerability of Oncolytics’ Reolysin, in combination with Imnovid (pomalidomide) or…

Don Wright, who recently finished his 100th marathon while on active treatment for multiple myeloma, will continue running, but now with the support of the advocacy organization Patient Power. Wright, who was diagnosed in 2003. will start his 101st marathon in June. In preparation for that event, Wright will run March…

Multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplants (ASCT) may strongly benefit from SELLAS‘ WT-1 cancer vaccine, galinpepimut-S, according to recent data from a Phase 2 study. In a cohort of patients whose characteristics result in progression-free survival (PFS) rates of less than 12 months following ASCT, treatment with…

GlycoMimetics will present preclinical research at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2017, demonstrating the potential of two drug candidates, GMI-1271 and GMI-1359, to treat multiple myeloma. The oral presentation (abstract #5005) will take place Tuesday, April 4, between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET. The study…

Celyad is ready to enroll patients in its Phase 1 THINK trial in Rosewell Park, N.Y. and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania after gaining authorizing from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the study in the U.S. The multinational trial is evaluating NKR-2 CAR T-cells in five…

Patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who receive a combination of Kyprolis (carfilzomib) and dexamethasone have significantly better survival rates than those receiving Velcade (bortezomib) plus dexamethasone, according to an interim analysis of the ENDEAVOR Phase 3 trial (NCT01568866). The study met its primary endpoint, with patients on the Kyprolis arm living…