JENS HILLENGASS, MD, has been announced as the new Chief of Myeloma of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. As part of his new role, Dr. Hillengass will continue his research on hematologic diseases, including multiple myeloma and its precursor diseases. A scientist with more than 15...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Gary Deng, MD, PhD, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the potential health benefits ...
THE HARVARD BUSINESS School Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator, a multidisciplinary initiative with aims to advance precision medicine, focuses on four workstreams: Direct to Patient, Data & Analytics, Clinical Trials, as well as Venture and Investment. It was recently announced that under...
An interim analysis of the phase III ARROW trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Moreau et al indicated that a higher-dose once-weekly schedule of carfilzomib was associated with prolonged progression-free survival vs a twice-weekly schedule in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple...
The ELOQUENT-3 trial, an international phase II study evaluating the addition of elotuzumab (Empliciti) to pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and low-dose dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, achieved its primary endpoint, showing a statistically significant and clinically...
On May 26, Genmab A/S announced that following a planned review, the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has recommended that the phase Ib/II study (CALLISTO/LUC2001) of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody atezolizumab (Tecentriq) vs ...
ASCO’S TARGETED Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study now provides a full list of patient cohort expansions and closures on its website. Based on treatment responses in stage I, patient cohorts are either expanded to stage II for further study and identification of a signal or...
For patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with lenalidome (Revlimid) but have relapsed and not responded to other therapy, a three-drug combination can significantly extend the time in which the disease is held in check. The findings of the phase III OPTIMISMM trial were presented by ...
Aviva C. Krauss, MD, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, discusses findings on an FDA analysis of immune-related adverse events and response to pembrolizumab in multiple myeloma (Abstract 8008).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Orphan Drug designation to galinpepimut-S for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The drug is licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and targets the Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) protein, which is present in an array of tumor...
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) announced a $10 million award to a Stand Up To Cancer Dream Team focused on revolutionizing the treatment of multiple myeloma through the early detection of precursor conditions. In the hope of developing therapies to prevent myeloma in high-risk populations, the project...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held its first scientific Annual Meeting on April 9, 1965, in the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. More than 70 members and invited guests attended the inaugural event, which featured three presentations on leukemia and multiple myeloma. The ...
This past year’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies heralded a new era in both effective cancer treatments and the most expensive cancer drugs ever. Tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) was initially approved for the treatment of...
On May 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade), a proteasome inhibitor; melphalan, an alkylating agent; and prednisone—VMP—for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for...
On May 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade), a proteasome inhibitor; melphalan, an alkylating agent; and prednisone—VMP—for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the role of bone-modifying agents in multiple myeloma.1 The update was performed by an expert panel systematic...
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation announced that, as part of its $15M Immunotherapy Initiative, it has awarded $7 million to fund three research programs led by myeloma researchers. The Immunotherapy Initiative, through the formation of highly collaborative, multidisciplinary Immune Networks ...
A study by Landgren et al in JAMA Oncology has found that New York City firefighters exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site face an increased risk for developing monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a myeloma precursor disease. The study was conducted...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Landgren review the underlying data that shaped the updated International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) diagnostic criteria for...
It is a difficult task to include every notable presentation from the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. In addition to our more comprehensive coverage of the news from that meeting over the past several issues, below are summaries of additional key...
On April 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to the oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) compound selinexor for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior lines of therapy. The FDA’s...
The proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib (Kyprolis) has taken on an increasing role in the treatment of multiple myeloma, but new research from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows the therapy may come with the risk of cardiovascular problems in a higher-than-expected...
AT A PREMEETING webinar, American Society of Hematology then President Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, commented: “This study demonstrates this new treatment has good...
CD19-DIRECTED chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of leukemia (tisagenlecleucel [Kymriah]) and lymphoma (axicabtagene ciloleucel [Yescarta]), but another type of CAR T-cell therapy is generating interest as a...
This past January, ASCO published Clinical Cancer Advances 2018,1 its 13th annual report on the progress being made against cancer. The report names chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy as ASCO’s Advance of the Year. In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Medeiros explore the recently updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
INTERVIEWED BY The ASCO Post, Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the University of Chicago Medical Center, commented on the “controversial findings” of EMN02/HO95. “This European study has opened the gate toward showing the benefit of a second transplant,...
FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED patients with multiple myeloma considered to be at high risk of disease progression, double autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) significantly prolongs progression-free and overall survival, vs single transplant, according to the phase III EMN02/HO95 study. The findings...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, reviews the current data on the use of acupuncture...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in Leukemia & Lymphoma, Shah et al identified the risk of cardiotoxicity among patients, most with multiple myeloma, receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) in clinical trials. Study Details The study included data from 4,164 patients who received...
A sizable percentage of elderly patients with blood-related cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma are apt to show signs of diminished cognitive functioning—a decline that may impact their survival—a new study by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Raje et al found that denosumab was noninferior to zoledronic acid in preventing skeletal-related events (SREs) in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with bone disease. Study Details In the double-blind trial, 1,718 patients with at...
As reported by Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD, of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Alexandra Hospital, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, a prespecified interim analysis of the phase III ENDEAVOR trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit for carfilzomib (Kyprolis)...
MADHAV V. DHODAPKAR, MBBS, a world-renowned expert in cancer immunology and translational immunotherapy, joined Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University as Director of the new Winship Center for Cancer Immunology. He has been appointed as the Anise McDaniel Brock Chair, Georgia Research...
TOPLINE RESULTS of the phase III ARROW trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02412878) were recently announced by Amgen. The study showed carfilzomib (Kyprolis) administered once weekly at 70 mg/m2 with dexamethasone allowed patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma to live 3.6 months ...
In a European phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dimopoulos et al found that pomalidomide (Pomalyst) plus low-dose dexamethasone produced responses in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and renal impairment. Study Details In the study, 81 patients with ...
When Yelak Biru was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1995, he and his physicians had one main posttreatment goal: to detect and treat any relapse early and to prolong survival as long as possible with the limited drugs available. Then, in the early 2000s, came newer treatments. Myeloma survival...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vogl et al found that the investigational oral selective exportin 1 (XPO1) inhibitor selinexor combined with dexamethasone produced responses in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. ...
In Clinical Cancer Advances 2018: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, which highlights the most impactful cancer research progress and the importance of federally funded research, ASCO recognized a type of adoptive cell immunotherapy—chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy—as...
DARATUMUMAB (DARZALEX) may be an effective treatment for systemic amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, according to phase II studies reported at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.1,2 While the cohorts were small and the arms uncontrolled, the findings...
KEN SHAIN, MD, Assistant Member of the Department of Malignant Hematology and Tumor Biology, Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and Scientific Director of the Moffitt Myeloma Working Group, moderated the session where the study was presented and offered comments to The ASCO Post. “Professor...
IN PATIENTS undergoing treatment of multiple myeloma, the prophylactic use of levofloxacin significantly reduced febrile episodes and deaths, without increasing healthcare-associated infections or carriage of key nosocomial pathogens, in a large multicenter study from the United Kingdom.1 The...
AS REVIEWED in this issue of The ASCO Post, ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) have issued an updated guideline on the role of bone-modifying agents in metastatic breast cancer.1 The updated guideline supports a change in clinical practice for our patients with breast cancer and bone metastasis....
On June 16, 2017, daratumumab -(Darzalex) was approved for use in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide (Revlimid) and a proteasome inhibitor.1,2 Supporting...
The final overall survival results of the phase III ASPIRE trial indicate significant improvement with carfilzomib (Kyprolis), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (KRd) vs lenalidomide plus dexamethasone (Rd) in patients who had received one to three prior lines of therapy for multiple...
A new and unique new way to treat cancer—chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy—is poised to transform the outlook for children and adults with certain otherwise incurable cancers. ASCO named this type of adoptive-cell immunotherapy the Advance of the Year in its annual...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kenneth Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the role of bone-modifying agents in multiple myeloma. The update was informed by an expert panel systematic literature...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Waxman et al found that any-grade and grade ≥ 3 cardiovascular adverse events occurred in 18.1% and 8.2% of patients receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) for multiple myeloma in clinical trials. Study Details The study involved...
On January 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the use of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade), melphalan, and prednisone for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed...
Andrzej Jakubowiak, MD, PhD, Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the University of Chicago Medical Center, commented on the study for The ASCO Post. “Overall, I was impressed with these results. They make an important contribution to the field. This is an advance in the right direction,”...