Advances in the treatment of monoclonal gammopaties: The emerging role of targeted therapy in plasma cell dyscrasias

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Authors: Aldo M Roccaro, Irene M Ghobrial, Simona Blotta, Steven P Treon, Michele Malagola, et al

Published Date September 2008 Volume 2008:2(3) Pages 419 - 431

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/BTT.S3088

Aldo M Roccaro¹, Irene M Ghobrial¹, Simona Blotta¹, Steven P Treon¹, Michele Malagola², Kenneth C Anderson¹, Paul G Richardson¹, Domenico Russo²

¹Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; ²Unit of Blood Diseases and Cell Therapies, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy

Abstract: The paradigm for the treatment of monoclonal gammopaties has dramatically changed: therapeutic options in multiple myeloma (MM) have evolved from the introduction of melphalan and prednisone in the 1960s, high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation in the late 1980s and 1990s, to the rapid introduction of small novel molecules within the last seven years. Based on the understanding of the complex interaction of the MM cells with the bone marrow microenvironment and the signaling pathways that are dysregulated in this process, a number of novel therapeutic agents are now available. Specifically, three novel agents with a specific-targeted anti-MM activity, have been FDA-approved for the treatment of this disease, namely Bortezomib, thalidomide, and lenalidomide which are now all playing a key role in the treatment of MM. The success of targeted therapy in MM has since led to the development and investigation of more than 30 new compounds in this disease and in other plasma cell dyscrasias such as Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia and primary amyloidosis, both in the preclinical settings and as part of clinical trials.

Keywords: monoclonal gammopaties, targeted therapies