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Advances in the molecular understanding of multiple myeloma (MM) onset and disease development have enabled the production of effective drugs, such as bortezomib,thalidomide, and lenalidomide, that increase the length of progression-free survival and prolong overall survival. While the drugs have dramatically improved the day-to-day quality of life of patients with MM,…

Results from a clinical trial support the use of a specific combination drug induction therapy over another three-drug treatment in multiple myeloma patients who are eligible for transplants. The study indicates the combination of bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone (VTD) is a better induction therapy than bortezomib-cyclophosphamide-dexamethasone (VCD). VCD was less efficient and was associated…

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has recently received a negative opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which recommended against authorizing NINLARO (ixazomib) capsules for relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. Takeda plans to request a re-evaluation of the CHMP opinion. In a press release, Dr.

The Advanced Practitioners Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) is presenting a series of live continuing medical education (CME) meetings, titled the “APSHO Regional Lecture Series.” The accredited meetings are designed for nurses, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, advanced degree nurse pharmacists, and others involved in caring for patients with…

Amgen reported findings from a post-hoc analysis of the pivotal Phase 3 ASPIRE clinical trial, highlighting the continued benefits of carfilzomib (Kyprolis), a second-generation proteasome inhibitor, plus a standard two-drug regimen (lenalidomide and dexamethasone) in relapsed multiple myeloma patients. The findings were presented during the recent 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Denmark. A separate sub-analyses…

Researchers from Janssen Research & Development presented promising interim results from the Phase 3 MMY3004 (CASTOR) clinical trial, assessing the immunotherapy drug daratumumab (Darzalex) against standard of care in previously treated multiple myeloma patients, at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2016 Annual Meeting in Chicago. Specifically, the ongoing trial (NCT02136134) showed…

Celgene Corporation recently presented a study comparing overall survival, treatment patterns, and healthcare costs between Caucasian (white-skinned) and African-American Medicare beneficiaries who were diagnosed with multiple myeloma, revealing there are discrepancies in treatment initiation between the two patient populations and discussing the impact of these inequalities on clinical outcomes. The study was presented at…

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) has announced that its founder, Kathy Giusti, has been appointed faculty co-chair of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator. Giusti, recently named by Fortune magazine as one of three business leaders who are changing medicine, is a former Harvard Business…

Researchers at the University of Louisville and collaborators from Japan and Austria have identified a protein called AF1q whose expression may predict the development of an aggressive form of multiple myeloma known as extramedullary disease (EMD). The findings were recently shown at the European Hematology Association’s 21st Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, in a…

Researchers at Buffalo, New York’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have showed that maintenance lenalidomide (marketed as Revlimid) following autologous hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplant improves the overall survival of multiple myeloma patients. The findings from the study “Lenalidomide (LEN) maintenance (MNTC) after high-dose melphalan and autologous stem cell…