Revlimid plus low-dose dexamethasone for MM

New Jersey, USA-based Celgene says that a review of preliminary trial data conducted by leading cancer research organization, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, suggests that low-dose dexamethasone in combination with Revlimid (lenalidomide) may offer multiple myeolma patients a survival advantage, compared with Revlimid plus a standard dose of dexamethasone.

Celgene said that the findings were of interest because Revlimid is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use, in combination with standard dose dexamethasone, in the treatment of MM patients who have received at least one prior therapy. The firm added that the drug had been the subject of a positive approval opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for the same indication in Europe.

Revlimid is also cleared for use in the treatment of patients with transfusion-dependent anemia as a result of low or intermediate risk myelodysplastic syndromes associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality.