Discoveries
Drug shows promise against multiple myeloma in early tests
When hard-to-impress scientists use phrases like "remarkable" and "more effective than anything I've seen before" to describe a new treatment, the medical world takes notice.
That's what happened with a medication known as VelcadeTM (formerly called PS-341), which has produced dramatic results in early studies involving patients with the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma. The tests, led by DFCI researchers Kenneth Anderson, MD, and Paul Richardson, MD, have been so encouraging that they've spawned a new advanced clinical trial of the drug for 600 myeloma patients around the world.
Originally developed as a tool for studying cells' internal compartments, Velcade was found to have a powerful effect against cancer cells. DFCI's Teru Hideshima, MD, PhD, and his associates discovered the drug prevents laboratory-grown myeloma cells from proliferating, even if they don't respond to other therapies. His colleague Richard LeBlanc, MD, later found the drug also kills myeloma cells in mice without seeming to harm normal tissue.
The success in animal studies paved the way for patient-based studies. A clinical trial organized by Anderson and Richardson enrolled 202 advanced myeloma patients from around the country who had relapsed after several previous treatments.
Early results from the trial, announced at scientific meetings over the past two years, have been remarkable. Of the first group of 78 patients, 70 percent had their condition stabilize or improve. Some achieved complete remissions, and half showed a measurable benefit from the medication.
"This is an outstanding example of research that began in the lab and has evolved to help patients," Richardson says. "The early results suggest that Velcade is a promising treatment for a disease that affects nearly 15,000 new patients a year in the United States."
