Researchers at The University of Alabama at Birmingham are recruiting for a phase 2 clinical trial designed to offer an innovative treatment approach for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. “I believe for the first time that we have treatments that are effective enough to make it possible to eradicate multiple myeloma definitively in a...Continue Reading
Patients with myeloma with outpatient prescription drug coverage were more likely to receive oral targeted agents instead of parenteral chemotherapy, thereby increasing their chances of survival, according to a study of Medicare Part D enrollees published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. Adjustments to coverage policies allowed for patient access to optimal treatments, according to the researchers....Continue Reading
Clarithromycin plus bortezomib does not confer any additional efficacy and is a toxic combination among patients with multiple myeloma (MM), according to a study published in Experimental Hematology & Oncology. Evidence from previous studies suggested that clarithromycin may lead to synergistic effects in treatment regimens with immunomodulatory drugs for MM, such as lenalidomide plus dexamethasone, but there...Continue Reading
A $2 million phase 2 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant to optimize a promising new compound that has shown efficacy in preclinical studies against treatment-resistant multiple myeloma has been awarded to a Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) startup company, Leukogene Therapeutics, Inc., in collaboration with MUSC researcher and company founder, Nathan G. Dolloff,...Continue Reading
An independent body that offers guidance to improve health and social care in England recommended against the use of axicabtagene ciloleucel, one of two chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies already approved in the United States and European Union. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued draft guidance today that said axicabtagene ciloleucel...Continue Reading
There may be a way to detect multiple myeloma (MM) earlier — effectively shortening the longer diagnostic interval that is typically associated with the diagnosis of MM — using basic information derived from routine blood panels already used in the primary care setting, according to a study published in British Journal of General Practice.1 The National Institute for...Continue Reading
The deep and durable phase I responses seen with the anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy bb2121 in patients with relapsed/refractory heavily pretreated multiple myeloma have prompted a phase II study, which is currently ongoing, according to Noopur Raje, MD. Data from the phase I CRB-401 trial showed bb2121 was associated with a 95.5% overall response...Continue Reading
The European Commission has approved the use of Novartis’s tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) and Gilead’s axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), two chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies, for certain cancer patients. This new class of therapies has been hailed as a breakthrough in cancer treatment, but cost is a sticking point. Just one day after the European Commission...Continue Reading
When practicing precision oncology for multiple myeloma, clinicians currently match specific DNA mutations to the optimal targeted therapy. However, it may be time to think about incorporating genome-wide RNA profiles to better guide therapy. A new trial published in JCO Precision Oncologyfound that a comprehensive RNA and DNA sequencing platform may benefit late-stage and drug-resistant multiple...Continue Reading
