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The addition of Velcade (bortezomib) to the standard melphalan-prednisone (MP) treatment for multiple myeloma indicates significantly improved survival rates.
A long-term Phase 3 trial in newly-diagnosed patients shows that after three years the combination continues to maintain a 35%-reduced risk of death compared to MP alone.
Results of the Vista (Velcade as Initial Standard Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Assessment with Melphalan and Prednisone) trial, the largest study to date, have been presented at the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans.
Lead author Maria-Victoria Mateos, at the Hospital Universitario Salamanca in Spain, notes that the survival curves indicate that frontline treatment with Velcade may improve long-term outcomes.
Patients also survive longer after relapse and subsequent therapy when they initially receive the combined treatment. This indicates that Velcade use does not induce more resistant relapses.
She says: “These data are important because they show that Velcade, as initial frontline therapy, continues to extend overall survival in patients with multiple myeloma not eligible for transplant therapy.”
Copyright Press Association 2009
American Society of Hematology
