Daratumumab combination treatment approved for NHS use in England and Wales through the Cancer Drugs Fund

This new treatment combination is being made available via the CDF on the NHS for the first time following a recommendation by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This decision follows an earlier draft negative decision by NICE in July last year. Daratumumab, which is produced by the pharmaceutical company Janssen, belongs to a…

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Myeloma UK publishes report on Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in Myeloma

This month Myeloma UK published a new research report recommending that researchers, the NHS and healthcare professionals work together to improve the way that patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are utilised in myeloma research. PROMs are questionnaires that are completed by patients and are often used either in a clinical trial setting to measure the impact of a…

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Prophylactic antibiotic combination reduces incidence of infection following ASCT

Results from a retrospective study have shown that prophylactic treatment with doxycycline and ciprofloxacin reduces the incidence of infection in myeloma patients following an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), when compared to treatment with ciprofloxacin alone. Published in Supportive Cancer Care, the results show that 53% of patients receiving ciprofloxacin alone developed neutropenic fever compared…

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Ixazomib combination demonstrates efficacy in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients

Results from a Phase II study, recently published in Leukaemia, show that the oral combination of ixazomib (Ninlaro®), pomalidomide (Imnovid®) and dexamethasone is effective in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients. All patients in this study were refractory to lenalidomide (Revlimid®). 48% of patients who received the recommended dose of ixazomib (4mg) achieved a partial response or…

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Pomalidomide combination shows efficacy in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients with renal impairment

Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, results from the Phase II trial, MM-013 show that pomalidomide (Imnovid®) in combination with low-dose dexamethasone is effective in relapsed and refractory patients with renal impairment. There were 3 cohorts in this trial; patients with moderate renal impairment (A), severe renal impairment (B) and severe impairment requiring haemodialysis…

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Results from Phase III ALCYONE trial published

The results from the Phase III ALCYONE trial have recently been published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study compared daratumumab (Darzalex®) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade®), melphalan and prednisone (VMP) to VMP alone in newly diagnosed myeloma patients, ineligible for a stem cell transplant. The results show that the 18-month progression-free survival…

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Phase III pomalidomide trial reaches primary endpoint

Celgene has announced that its Phase III trial, OPTIMISMM, has achieved its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma. The study compared pomalidomide (Imnovid®) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade®) and low-dose dexamethasone to bortezomib and low-dose dexamethasone in myeloma patients who had received 1 – 3 prior treatments,…

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Carfilzomib combinations demonstrate overall survival benefit in relapsed and refractory myeloma

Results from the Phase III ASPIRE trial show that carfilzomib (Kyprolis®) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid®) and dexamethasone has a significant overall survival (OS) benefit in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients. Recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the results demonstrate that patients receiving carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone had a median OS of 48.3…

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