Emerging therapies for multiple myeloma.

ABSTRACT: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal plasma cell malignancy clinically characterized by osteolytic lesions, immunodeficiency, and renal disease. There are an estimated 750,000 people diagnosed with MM worldwide, with a median overall survival of 3 - 5 years. Besides chromosomal aberrations, translocations, and mutations in essential growth and tumor-suppressor genes, accumulating data strongly highlight the pathophysiologic role of the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment in MM pathogenesis. Based on this knowledge, several novel agents have been identified, and treatment options in MM have fundamentally changed during the last decade. Thalidomide, bortezomib, and lenalidomide have been incorporated into conventional cytotoxic and transplantation regimens, first in relapsed and refractory and no

SUBMITTER: Podar K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3183751 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature