The combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone is effectual against multiple myeloma: this was a fact that was revealed after a study involving 353 patients with myeloma was conducted at 44 centers in the United States and Canada.

The study also found out that pairing a new thalidomide derivative with a steroid can considerably slowdown any further progression of multiple myeloma, which is an incurable bone marrow cancer. It was also revealed that this combination may also prove its worth to prolong lives of patients who have relapsed from previous treatments.

From News-Medical.Net:

“These trials highlight how large-scale cooperation in a team effort by myeloma investigators can quickly confirm benefits and introduce new active agents for patients with this disease,” Weber says. “We also owe a debt to the willing patients who participated in this study.”

Multiple myeloma is caused by formation of abnormal plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, in the bone marrow. These cells multiply rapidly, crowding out normal red and white blood cells and platelets. Tumors starting in the bone marrow may cause pain, and weaken bones predisposing them to fracture. In the United States about 20,000 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma annually, and about 11,000 succumb to the disease each year.

Thalidomide, a breakthrough drug for multiple myeloma, is produced and marketed by Celgene Corporation as Thalomid(r). The company chemically altered thalidomide to make lenalidomide, known commercially as Revlimid(r), in hopes of reducing side effects and improving efficacy against the disease. The drugs attack both the malignant cells and the cellular environment that nurtures them.

It was remarked by lead author Donna Weber, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center that a combination of medical drugs may prove to be beneficial in ongoing treatment as a disease may become resistant to one drug.

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In a clinical trial that was conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and part of the National Institutes of Health, it was revealed that a low dosage regimen of steroids can prove to be an excellent option for treating bone marrow cancer patients rather than persisting for the standard dose of dexamethasone.

The trial revealed that low doses of dexamethasone, a steroid, with lenalidomide can work wonders on patients who are fighting against newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. It was also revealed that the combination of dexamethasone and lenalidomide brought fewer side-effects.

From Bio-Medicine.Org:

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells that are found in blood and bone marrow.

Survival chances improved considerably when a low dose of the steroid dexamethasone combined with lenalidomide was tried on patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

The clinical trial was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted by a network of researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG).

The significance of the results lies in that a low dose regimen has been found to be more effective than the standard dose of dexamethasone.

Researchers found that patients in the study who received a lower dose regimen had a one-year survival of 96 percent compared to 86 per cent for patients treated in the case of those with the standard-dose of dexamethasone and lenalidomide.

In addition, there were fewer side effects associated with the low-dose dexamethasone and lenalidomide.

As per noted study chair Vincent Rajkumar, the combination of lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone is extremely positive and truly represents a potential step ahead for treating multiple myeloma.

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