REVLIMID® (lenalidomide)-Dexamethasone Combo, Effective Against Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is a cancer that occurs in the blood-making cells of bone marrow.
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania recently announced the fndings from two large, international clinical trials: with the oral drug lenalidomide (REVLIMID®), in combination with the steroid dexamethasone, patients significantly improved by all measures where previous treatments had failed.
A product of Celgene, REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) is an oral medication which treats without the ravages of chemotherapy. It is a first in a new class of medications called immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) that works by attacking both the cancer cell and the micro-environment in which it lives in the bone marrow, thereby stopping the cells’ ability to adhere to the wall of tissues where they will grow.
REVLIMID® may also inhibit cancer cells’ ability to hide from the body’s natural killer cells in the immune system by stopping angiogenesis — the growth of blood vessels that penetrate into and feed cancerous tumors causing them to proliferate.
According to Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD, Director of the Abramson Cancer Center Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program and lead investigator from Penn:
“Myeloma, also known as multiple myeloma, is a growing interest and concern of cancer clinicians and researchers. While most U.S. cancer diagnoses are decreasing, statistics show that the number of myeloma diagnoses is increasing, particularly in younger patients.
This disturbing trend fuels the urgency to discover effective treatments to fight this disease. This study shows that this new class of drugs is a critical advance toward meeting that need. The last five to ten years have been the most wonderful time to be a physician treating multiple myeloma, thanks to advances like lenalidomide.
Twenty, thirty years ago, there wasn’t much we could do for these patients. We couldn’t really treat the disease effectively so we tried to treat the symptoms with only two or three types of chemotherapy and radiation, which of course have their own negative side-effects.
Now, we have this new, highly effective class of drugs with very low side effects. Before, we hoped for a positive response in patients. Now, we expect one. Thanks to new agents like lenalidomide, we’ve been able to convert this disease from a killer to more of a chronic illness.”
Find more details from Science Daily.
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