Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

Adding the lymphoma therapy vorinostat to Revlimid (lenalidomide) maintenance therapy may deepen responses to stem cell transplants and prolong survival outcomes in multiple myeloma patients, long-term results of a Phase 1 clinical trial show. Results were published in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation in…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to the investigational therapy CT053 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The RMAT designation is given to regenerative therapies intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious…

People with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) placed at low- or intermediate-risk of progression to multiple myeloma can develop that cancer within five years, a study of blood serum immune markers reports. This finding warrants annual blood testing for these people, researchers wrote in the study “…

KappaMab (MDX-1097), a new monoclonal antibody that binds to the kappa myeloma antigen, has a favorable safety profile in multiple myeloma patients with excess kappa light chain, results of a pilot study suggest. The data were published in Blood Cancer Journal in a paper titled, “A preliminary…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted its hold on the CANOVA Phase 3 clinical trial, which is evaluating the experimental therapeutic Vencexta (venetoclax) plus dexamethasone in people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who test positive for a common genetic abnormality. Venclexta (sold as Venclyxto…

Adding Darzalex (daratumumab) to the standard first-line treatment of Revlimid (lenalidomide) plus dexamethasone improves treatment and survival outcomes in multiple myeloma patients who are not eligible for an autologous stem cell transplant, a Phase 3 clinical trial shows. Findings from the MAIA trial (NCT02252172) were…

Isatuximab, a potential therapeutic antibody, can improve survival in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients being given a standard treatment consisting of Pomalyst (pomalidomide) and dexamethasone (brand names include Decadron and Dexpak), results of a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial suggest. The data were presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the…

A panel of blood markers that identifies tumors with more active blood vessels may help stratify multiple myeloma patients according to their risk, a study found. It may also identify patients more likely to benefit from inhibitors of blood vessel growth. The study, “Prognostic or predictive value of…

Analysis of thousands of individual cells in multiple myeloma patients allows for a much more precise diagnosis — distinguishing asymptomatic, early-stage patients from those with full-blown disease — and may guide treatment choices toward a more personalized approach, a study shows. The study, “Single cell dissection…