Myeloma Patients Europe urges CHMP committee to approve plitidepsin for relapsed myeloma

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Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE) has written to the Chair of the Committee for Human Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) within the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to provide the patient viewpoint on the importance of plitidepsin (Aplidin®) for relapsed and refractory myeloma patients across Europe. We have outlined how important it is for patients across Europe to gain access to effective drugs that have new mechanisms of action.

Webinar “Science in patient advocacy”

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As part of the Advocate Development Programme (ADP), MPE is organising an online webinar about science in patient advocacy. Although the webinars held within the ADP are usually open only to our ADP trainees, on this occasion we would like to invite to the webinar all our members and patient advocates interested in science. The webinar “Science in patient advocacy” will be given by Bettina Ryll, chair of the ESMO Patient Advocates Working Group (PAWG)…

ASH Annual Meeting 2017 is about to start

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The 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting will take place from 9 – 12 December in Atlanta, Georgia, United States (US). Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE) will be attending the meeting, alongside thousands of leading doctors, researchers and patient advocates in the field of blood cancer (hematology). Below we explain ASH and the importance of the meeting to patient advocates.  

Update on European melphalan shortages

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Melphalan (Alkeran®), a chemotherapy drug commonly used in myeloma, was not available in several European countries towards the end of 2016. Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE) became aware of the situation following reports from our members that it was impacting negatively on myeloma patients in their countries. We conducted a survey to explore the issue further, the results of which you can see here.

CAREFOR calls on EU to safeguard independent academic research

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Lugano/Brussels, 3 August 2017. Three leading European organisations in the fight against cancer have called the European Union (EU) to urgently increase its support for independent academic research for the benefit of cancer patients, in an article published (today) in ESMO Open. “Independent academic research is endangered for lack of funds and adequate legislation,” said Rolf A. Stahel, ESMO Past President and co-founder of the CAREFOR platform. “Working closely with EU institutions, we can make sure…

In Memoriam of Jelle Palsma

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It is with great sadness that we share with you that our friend and colleague, Jelle Palsma passed away. Jelle was part of the board of MPE’s French member, Association Française des Malades du Myélome Multiple (AF3M), and was a very active representative at MPE. Despite his health condition, Jelle was involved in highly relevant MPE initiatives with a remarkable positive attitude.

Promising results of CAR T-Cell therapy in myeloma patients

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53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) CHICAGO – In an early clinical trial, 33 out of 35 (94%) patients had clinical remission of myeloma upon receiving a new type of immunotherapy  ̶  chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting B-cell maturation protein or BCMA. Most patients had only mild side effects. The study was presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. “Although recent advances in chemotherapy have prolonged life expectancy in multiple myeloma, this cancer remains incurable,” said study author Wanhong Zhao, MD, PhD,…

Denosumab delays the time to first skeletal-related event in patients with myeloma

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53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Chicago – According to Phase 3 ‘482 study, the largest international multiple myeloma trial ever conducted with 1,718 patients involved, patients who receive denosumab (XGEVA) had a significantly lower rate of renal adverse events compared to zoledronic acid (10.0 percent versus 17.1 percent, p<0.001). The study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating denosumab is non-inferior to zoledronic acid in delaying the time to first on-study…