Multiple myeloma patients to benefit from Lenalidomide and low doses of steroids

According to a randomized clinic trial, lenalidomide and low doses of steroids are helpful for treating patients suffering from multiple myeloma (a cancer of plasma cells found in blood and bone marrow).

The trial was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and conducted by researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). It was a part of the National Institutes of Health and was chaired by Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

From Bio-Medicine.Org:

Preliminary results from a large, randomized clinical trial for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, a cancer typically found in bone marrow, has shown that the use of a low dose of the steroid dexamethasone(Decadron ®), in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid ®) is associated with improved survival when compared to a treatment regimen with lenalidomide and a higher, standard dose of dexamethasone. 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 data monitoring committee overseeing the trial (known as E4A03) recommended that the survival results from a recent interim analysis be made public because of early differences being seen in overall survival rates. Researchers found that patients in the study who received low-dose dexamethasone and lenalidomide had a one-year survival of 96 percent compared to 86 percent for patients treated with the standard-dose of dexamethasone and lenalidomide. In addition, there were fewer side effects associated with the low-dose dexamethasone and lenalidomide. Detailed results from this trial will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, Ill., from June 1 to 5, 2007.

These findings have revealed that patients showed better signs of improvement with lenalidomide and low doses of steroids against lenalidomide and high doses of steroids. It is expected that these findings will be a real step forward in the right direction for treatment of Multiple Myeloma.