Myeloma Center Education & Support Group

Held once a month (except during the summer), this group offers patients and their families the most up-to-date information about myeloma and its treatment, as well as provides emotional support. We regularly rotate the speakers, which may include physicians, nutritionists, alternative care specialists, physical therapists, amongst others.

Group Facilitator: Andrea Nudelman, LMSW

Please RSVP by calling the Myeloma Center at (212) 746-3964.

Information for the Next Two Groups

Thursday April 25, 2013

Time: 6 to 8 pm
Location: 1300 York Avenue at 69th Street, Room A126
Robin Tuohy from the International Myeloma Foundation will present

Thursday May 16, 2013

Time: 6 to 8 pm
Location: 1305 York Avenue at 70th Street, Floor Y214
Joe Russo, Physical Therapist will present

There will be no groups over the summer. They will start up again in the fall.

Weill Cornell Researchers: A novel bortezomib-based strategy for secondary induction and high-yield CD34+ stem cell mobilization

Researchers at Weill Cornell Myeloma Center and Weill Cornell Medical College evaluated bortezomib (Velcade)-based secondary induction and stem cell moblization in 38 patients with multiple myeloma who were eligible for transplant and who had an incomplete and stalled response to, or had relapsed after, previous immunomodulatory induction therapy. The results were recently published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

In the study, patients received up to six 21-day cycles of bortezomib plus dexamethasone, with added liposomal doxorubicin for the patients not achieving partial response or better by cycle 2 or very good partial response or better by cycle 4 (DoVeD), followed by bortezomib, high-dose cyclophosphamide, and filgrastim mobilization.

After a median follow-up of 46.6 months, median progression-free survival was 47.1 months; the 5-year overall survival rate was 76.4%. The researchers concluded that bortezomib-based secondary induction and mobilization could represent an alternative strategy for elimination of tumor burden in immunomodulatory drug-resistant patients.

Click here to read the published research paper.

 

The Myeloma Center’s Dr. Mark Presents Results of ClaPD Trial at ASH

Weill Cornell’s Dr. Tomer Mark presented results of the ClaPD (Clarithromycin, Pomalidomide, Dexamethasone) Therapy in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma trial at the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting. Click below to view Dr. Mark’s presentation.

Multiple Myeloma: International Myeloma Foundation : ASH 2012: Dr. Mark – ClaPD (Clarithromycin, Pomalidomide, Dexamethasone) Therapy in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma.

Weill Cornell Researchers Publish Update on BiRd and Long-Term Lenalidomide Therapy in Previously Untreated Multiple Myeloma

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, including the Myeloma Center’s Dr. Adriana C. Rossi,  Dr. Ruben Niesvizky, Dr. Tomer Mark and Dr. Roger Pearse, recently published an update on BiRd and long-term lenalidomide therapy in the journal “Blood.”

The researchers had evaluated the combination of clarithromycin, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (BiRd)  as front-line therapy for people with previously untreated, symptomatic multiple myeloma (MM). The researchers found that the overall response rate at 2 years of therapy was 90%. The researchers subsequently reviewed the long-term follow-up of 72 patients who received initial BiRd therapy. After a median follow-up period of 6.6 years, overall response rates were 93%, with a very good partial response or better of 68%.

The researchers also evaluated the development of second primary malignancies and found no increase in the cohort of patients who received front-line BiRd therapy.

The authors conclude that, “BiRd remains a highly potent and safe regimen for front-line therapy in patients with MM without apparent increase in risk of [second primary malignancies].”

Click here to read the published research paper.

New Clinical Trial: Lenalidomide & Dexamethasone With or Without MLN9708 in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind, Multicenter Study Comparing Oral MLN9708 plus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone versus Placebo plus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone in Adult Patients with Relapsed and/or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

The Weill Cornell Myeloma Center has recently opened a new clinical trial for men and women with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The study sponsor is Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and the principal investigator at The Myeloma Center is Dr. Ruben Niesvizky. For more information about the study, please call the Myeloma Center at (212) 746-3964.

Key Eligibility
  • Age 18 and older
  • Relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
  • Have received 1 to 3 prior therapies
  • Detailed eligibility reviewed when you contact the Myeloma Center
Study Details

The purpose of the study is to determine whether adding MLN9708 to the combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone improves survival in people with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Lenalidomide and dexamethasone given in combination is approved by the FDA for treating people with myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. MLN9708 is a type of drug called proteasome inhibitor. Proteasome inhibitors work by inhibiting proteins (known as proteasomes) that cells need to survive and multiply. Cancer cells are more susceptible to this effect than normal cells. Inhibiting these proteins (proteasomes) may help kill cancer cells.

Study participants will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups:

  • Group 1: Lenalidomide and dexamethasone + MLN9708
  • Group 2: Lenalidomide and dexamethasone + Placebo (a capsule that looks like MLN9708 but does not contain any medicine)
Treatment Plan

Each treatment cycle is 28 days:

  • MLN9708/placebo on Days 1, 8 and 15 of each cycle
  • Lenalidomide on Days 1-21 of each cycle
  • Dexamethasone on Days 1, 8, 15 and 22 of each cycle

MLN9708, lenalidomide and dexamethasone are capsules taken by mouth. Participants may continue to receive treatment as long as their myeloma responds to therapy and they do not experience unacceptable side effects.

 

 

Weill Cornell’s Dr. Adriana Rossi: Clarithromycin, pomalidomide, and dexamethasone (ClaPD) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma

Weill Cornell’s Dr. Adriana Rossi presented updated results of a study of clarithromycin, pomalidomide and dexamethasone (ClaPD) in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma at the 2012 ASCO conference.

Click here to watch the video of Dr. Rossi’s presentation.

 

 

FDA Approves Carfilzomib Injection for Treatment of Multiple Myeloma

On July 20, 2012 the FDA granted accelerated approval to carfilzomib for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory agent, and have demonstrated disease progression on or within 60 days of the completion of the last therapy. While there was some concern over potentially lethal side effects during the time that the FDA reviewed the drug, the FDA determined that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor delivered intravenously, was approved based on the results of PX-171-003, a phase II trial that enrolled 266 patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who had received at least two prior lines of therapy. The study found that 61 of 266 patients experienced complete or partial disappearance of their tumors with a median duration of response of 7.8 months.

Click here for more information on the FDA approval of carfilzomib.

The Weill Cornell Myeloma Center is currently running an investigator-initated study of Carfilzomib, Clarithromycin, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone (Car-BiRD) Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma.

 

Myeloma Center Awarded Prestigous LLS Translational Research Grant

The Myeloma Center in collaboration with Weill Cornell’s Monical Guzman, PhD have received a prestigious translational research grant from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) to study the genesis of secondary malignancies in Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple Myeloma is characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant plasma cells. The introduction of novel agents has resulted in improvement in survival. However, long term use of these agents may lead to the development of second primary malignancies (SPM).

The grant will allow the researchers to examine factors that contribute to the development of secondary malignancies and identify early changes that could be used as predictors of the risk for SPMs.

Weill Cornell Researchers: Stopping and Starting Cancer Cell Cycle Weakens and Defeats Multiple Myeloma

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have devised an innovative boxer-like strategy, based on the serial use of two anti-cancer drugs, to deliver a one-two punch to first weaken the defenses of multiple myeloma and then deliver the final knock-out punch to win the fight.

The study, published online by the journal Blood, is the first to show that precise timing of therapies that target a cancer cell’s cycle — the life phases leading to its division and replication — disables key survival genes, resulting in cell death. The drug that delivers the weakening jab at the cell cycle is the experimental agent PD 0332991, which allows bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor already approved for use in myeloma and lymphoma, to land the final defeating blow at lower than normal doses.

While this is potentially good news for patients with multiple myeloma, the study suggests that using this therapeutic strategy could also work for other tumor types.

Dr. Selina Chen-Kiang, the study’s lead investigator, said, “Because robust functioning of the cell cycle is crucial to cancer growth and survival, this mechanism-based strategy could theoretically be used against many kinds of cancers. Based on the genetics of a patient’s tumor, we could pair PD 0332991 with the right cytotoxic partner drug to both inhibit cancer cell division and sensitize the cells for that knock-out punch.”

Click here to read more about this recently published research.

 

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