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Multiple Myeloma

With the accelerated FDA approval in December 2015 of the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) for patients with multiple myeloma who received ≥3 previous therapies, studies of the drug presented at ASH 2015 were of great interest.
The immunostimulatory monoclonal antibody elotuzumab (Empliciti), which was approved by the FDA in December 2015, is being studied in combination with immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Results presented at ASH 2015 show continued benefit from these regimens.
With the recent FDA approval of the first oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib (Ninlaro), patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received previous treatment now have access to an all-oral regimen. The FDA-indicated triplet regimen of ixazomib, lenalidomide (Revlimid), and dexamethasone (Decadron) significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with the doublet of lenalidomide and dexamethasone, reported Philippe Moreau, MD, University of Nantes, France, at ASH 2015.
The year 2015 saw an explosion of new drugs approved by the FDA and new indications for drugs already on the market for multiple myeloma. Overall, 4 new drugs from 2 new classes were approved in 2015, changing the standard of care for patients with this disease.
All patients with smoldering or asymptomatic multiple myeloma should undergo whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or pelvic and spinal MRI if whole body is unavailable, according to recommendations from the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG). The presence of >1 focal lesions >5 mm should be considered diagnostic for symptomatic myeloma requiring therapy.
San Francisco, CA—Patients with multiple myeloma express a high level of “distress,” which providers and counselors can evaluate and manage, according to a report from the Cancer Support Community (CSC), Washington, DC.
San Francisco, CA—Monoclonal antibodies may be to multiple myeloma what rituximab has been to lymphoma, according to myeloma experts who expressed enthusiasm over these emerging agents at an education session at ASH 2014.
San Francisco, CA—An “unprecedented” duration of remission for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma was achieved with a carfilzomib-based triplet, according to the lead investigator of the ASPIRE trial.
San Francisco, CA—Pomalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone is “likely to be a cost-effective use of healthcare resources,” according to researchers from the United Kingdom, who presented a pharmacoeconomic analysis at ASH 2014.
Neoplasms of the blood and lymphoid tissue are often classified into the 4 broad categories of leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma, and account for approximately 9% of all cancers. As a group, hematologic malignancies are the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer in men and in women in the economically developed world.
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  • American Health & Drug Benefits
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  • Value-Based Care in Myeloma
  • Value-Based Care in Neurology