Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Celgene International, a biopharmaceutical company, has announced that data from a landmark analysis of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma found that continuous treatment with Revlimid in combination with dexamethasone after achieving best response resulted in significantly longer overall survival and increased time to disease progression compared to those who discontinued treatment after 10 months or less.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
This analysis of 321 patients found that, 24 months after achieving their best response, 93.8% of patients who continued therapy for more than 10 months were still alive, whereas only 48.4% of those who were treated for 10 months or less survived.
A second analysis completed as part of the same study showed that patients who discontinued therapy with Revlimid early due to adverse events or withdrawal of consent had significantly shorter median overall survival times (29.5 months) and times to disease progression (13.6 months) than did those who continued therapy, the company said.
For those who continued therapy, median overall survival and time to progression were not yet reached at the time of analysis. Patients who stopped treatment due to disease progression were excluded from the study; therefore the results show that patients benefit from continuing treatment.
Revlimid is currently approved in the EU, the US, Canada, Argentina and Switzerland in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy and in Australia in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of patients whose disease has progressed after one therapy.
Jesus San Miguel, head of the department of hematology at University of Salamanca, said: “The findings show that, as long as patients are responsive to treatment and their side effects are manageable, they should be maintained on therapy, since continuing treatment can improve outcomes and overall survival significantly. Patients and doctors should work together to manage side effects so that treatments can be continued.”