Phase II Of Mayo Measles Trial - Informal Initial Results

My colleagues and I earlier today received word about information that had been posted elsewhere on the Internet about initial results from the Phase 2 portion of the Mayo Clinic’s clinical trial testing measles virotherapy for relapsed multiple myeloma.The information was from at least one participant in the trial, who wrote that they had been told that, thus far, there had been few – if any – responses among the initial participants in the Phase 2 trial.My colleagues and I felt uncomfortable passing along this information without any further confirmation of it. So I reached out to Beacon Medical Advisor Dr. Prashant Kapoor, who, as many of you know, is a myeloma specialist at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Kapoor, in turn, has informed us that the principal investigators leading the Phase 2 trial have confirmed that there were, indeed, no responses to the vaccine therapy observed in the first 12 patients treated in the Phase 2 portion of the trial. The investigators also added, however, that the results have not been formally analyzed, released, or presented, although some patients in the trial were counseled about the results. Despite these initial results from the Phase 2 part of the trial, the investigators say that they remain very enthusiastic about the measles virotherapy approach, and they have identified certain factors to be considered for the next trial cohort. The trial will therefore be amended and accrual of additional patients will resume with revisions. For further information about the Mayo Clinic trial and initial results from the Phase 1 portion of it, see the extended Beacon forum thread on the topic, "Mayo Clinic measles vaccine study" (started May 14, 2014).

I know that this update will come as a disappointment to many in the multiple myeloma com­munity. I wish the news that we had to pass along were considerably more positive.Those of you who are regular Beacon readers and participants here in the forum, however, know that there are many other new therapies under development for multiple myeloma. Some of these therapies, in fact, are just around the corner in terms of being available to patients outside of clinical trials.It also is still very much an open question what the final results of the measles virotherapy will be, as researchers are continuing to learn more about this novel approach to cancer treatment. Thus, while the news in this posting could have been more positive, I hope it won't cause our community to forget the significant progress that is happening on many fronts – and almost every day – when it comes to developing better ways to treat multiple myeloma. All the best, Boris.