Topline results show a 26% response rate in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating Ygalo (melflufen) in patients with triple-refractory multiple myeloma, a difficult-to-treat form of this disease, the therapy’s developer, Oncopeptides, announced. These data will support a request for accelerated approval for Ygalo to treat people with triple-refractory multiple myeloma in the U.S., the...Continue Reading
Medical centres across the country are condensing services, moving online and ushering in pandemic plans. Josie Adams assesses what it’s like to access and provide essential medical care under alert level four. On Monday, Sandra Russell woke up before dawn and drove to Milford to get her blood tested. She has an incurable blood cancer,...Continue Reading
A case study of a patient in Wuhan, China, suggests that the immunosuppressant tocilizumab may be an effective COVID-19 treatment for very ill patients who also have multiple myeloma and other blood cancers. The report, published in Blood Advances, also suggests that blood cancer patients may have atypical COVID-19 symptoms. The patient, a 60-year-old male who...Continue Reading
Emma Holden was devastated when she learned she had multiple myeloma. The 31-year-old, who lives in South Canterbury, was diagnosed with the form of blood cancer in June last year. When she first was told of the cancer she hadn’t heard of it before. Multiple myeloma causes cancer cells to accumulate in bone marrow, where they...Continue Reading
Pharmac will ease restrictions on at least nine cancer drugs, including keytruda for the treatment of advanced melanoma, to reduce hospital visits and cut the risk of highly vulnerable patients catching Covid-19. One senior oncologist has praised the drug buying agency’s swift response, although patient advocates say cancer sufferers will need much more help during...Continue Reading
New Zealanders living with the incurable blood cancer, multiple myeloma, are set to gain access to a new treatment option following the decision by PHARMAC to subsidise REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) for maintenance treatment from Wednesday April 1, 2020 REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) represents New Zealand’s first and only maintenance treatment specifically indicated and reimbursed for those with newly...Continue Reading
Researchers at the VU University Medical Center in the Netherlands have tested a new drug in patient samples and mice with multiple myeloma and discovered that it was effective even in advanced disease – a point when many patients currently run out of options. These promising results could pave the way for the new drug...Continue Reading
COVID-19, short for coronavirus disease 2019, is an infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is a newly identified pathogen that has not previously been seen in humans and is highly contagious. Though it belongs to the same category of viruses as SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is a...Continue Reading
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — SkylineDx shares research showing that multiple myeloma (blood cancer) patients with a high risk or aggressive course of the disease are unlikely to benefit from current treatment approaches, including lenalidomide mono-therapy for maintenance when compared to observation only. The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London (UK), derived these results from the...Continue Reading
With rising community concern about the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, Myeloma Australia would like to provide the following information sheet detailing risks and preventative measures specific to the myeloma population. The coronavirus family are known to cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). COVID-19 is the name that has been...Continue Reading
