The 21st century has seen great strides in treatment for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow once considered a death sentence. In fact, thanks to research by Dana-Farber scientists, this blood cancer that took the lives of Geraldine Ferraro and Leonard P. Zakim has become a chronic disease for many patients.
Ken Anderson, MD, and his colleagues have helped transform multiple myeloma into a more manageable illness by shepherding many novel drugs from the laboratory to the patient bedside.
Over a decade ago, median survival in multiple myeloma was just 2 to 3 years. Today, James (Jim) Bond of Cleveland, Ohio, who bicycles across his home state every year to raise money for cancer research, has been living with multiple myeloma for 20 years. Bond credits Dana-Farber’s clinical trials for his longevity.
Multiple myeloma is estimated to strike 22,350 people in the U.S. in 2013. Although there is still no cure, Dana-Farber researchers have contributed to the following advances.
- Velcade. In 2003, the FDA approved a drug called bortezomib (Velcade), which today is standard treatment for newly diagnosed myeloma, thanks to research conducted by Anderson, Paul Richardson, MD, and their colleagues at Harvard Medical School and elsewhere.
- Studying the tumor’s “neighborhood.” Around the time that Velcade was approved, Anderson and his team were also investigating the drug thalidomide (Thalomid) as a treatment for myeloma. They explored the effect of medications not just on the tumor cells but also on those surrounding the tumor, including non-cancerous immune and other cells.
- Thalidomide, Revlimid and Pomalidomide. Anderson and his team discovered that thalidomide and its close cousin lenalidomide (Revlimid) actively recruit immune cells to fight cancer. Clinical trials led by Richardson and colleagues set the stage for the approval of lenalidomide to treat advanced myeloma in 2006. The most potent immunomodulator studied by both the laboratory and clinical team to date, called pomalidomide (Pomalyst), was approved in February 2013.
- Combination drugs. Because many genetic mutations drive a single tumor, cancer is often best treated with combinations of therapies. Dana-Farber researchers hope to personalize multiple myeloma treatment by categorizing patients based on the molecular pathways that drive their cancer, and prescribe the appropriate combinations of drugs.
- Stem cell transplant. This procedure is still a key component of treatment for multiple myeloma. DF/BWCC is a leading provider of stem cell transplantation, which involves giving the patient healthy bone marrow harvested from his or her own stem cells, or sometimes those of a donor.
- Clinical research. Multiple clinical trials at Dana-Farber are open for multiple myeloma patients in various settings. In particular, Richardson and his colleagues have launched a large trial, in collaboration with other medical centers, to test a combination of the drugs lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone. Sophisticated testing of myeloma genetics in each patient (led by Nikhil Munshi, MD ) is an integral part of this trial and will hopefully facilitate a highly tailored approach to treatment in the future.
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