Revlimid is used for the treatment of elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
Celgene has presented the trial data at the European Haematology Association’s annual congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Lenalidomide Phase III study assessed patients aged 65 years or older, receiving Lenalidomide in combination with melphalan and prednisone, followed by lenalidomide alone (MPR-R), patients receiving lenalidomide in combination with melphalan and prednisone, followed by placebo (MPR) and patients receiving placebo, melphalan and prednisone, followed by placebo (MP). Patients were also offered Lenalidomide therapy if they progressed while participating in the study.
Celgene said that the primary endpoint of the study was to determine the improvement of progression free survival (PFS) in patients who received MPR-R versus patients who received MP.
The results of the phase III, IFM 2005 02 study, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, demonstrated that patients with multiple myeloma receiving continuous Revlimid following a first-line autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) had a 68% 3-year progression-free survival rate compared to 34% for patients that received placebo following ASCT. This translated to a 54% reduction in risk of disease progression for patients receiving continuous lenalidomide following ASCT.
Reportedly, the three-year overall survival after randomisation (four years after diagnosis) was 88% for patients that received Revlimid and 80% for patients that received placebo.
Celgene has also presented the results of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B Phase III, randomised, controlled, double-blind, multi-center clinical trial of patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma following ASCT (CALGB 100104), at ASCO.
The data represented a 58% reduction in risk of disease progression for patients receiving continuous daily treatment with Lenalidomide 10-15mg when compared to the patients that received placebo.
Eric Low, chief executive of Myeloma UK, said: “The use of new treatments such as Lenalidomide to improve the length of remission patients experience after a stem cell transplant is an important research area.
“Further research is needed to understand the full potential of Lenalidomide in this setting but these interim data are very encouraging.”