Velcade, Again

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the disappointing results of a trial comparing Velcade with straight Rituxan. The study showed a marginal increase in progression-free survival with the use of Velcade. We had all hoped for something more, and the talk was that Velcade might merely provide one more option, but not THE option for Follicular NHL patients.

But wait -- maybe Velcade will work better in combination with something else? That happens with some treatments. Rituxan itself is much more effective when combined with traditional chemo, after all.

An article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology this months says that this might indeed be the case: while straight Velcade might not be a great improvement, it does work decently in combinations.

The article, summarized on the site DoctorsLounge, discusses two studies of Velcade (also known as Bortezomib). The first looked at Velcade added to a traditional chemo combo, CVP-R. In a small study, 83% of patients showed either a complete or partial response.

In another study, Velcade was added to Bendamustine/Treanda and Rituxan. 88% of patients in this study had either a complete or partial response to this combination.

That's all excellent news. And more evidence, at least at this point, that some combination of treatments, rather than one super treatment, will end up giving us the most success.