Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, commonly known as a stem cell transplant, is a popular treatment option for many patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.

However, multiple myeloma continues to progress following a transplant. A recent New England Journal of Medicine study suggests that a new long-term therapy, lenalidomide, can be used after a stem cell transplant to slow the disease progression. A key symptom of multiple myeloma is anemia which leaves people more susceptible to infections and abnormal bleeding, according to the National Library of Medicine.

As part of a phase 3 trial at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, researchers measured the effect lenalidomide had on the disease and found that follow-up therapy with lenalidomide, an oral drug, delayed progression in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma when given after a stem cell transplant. The probability of surviving free of disease progression for three years was 59 percent in the lenalidomide group, compared with 35 percent in the placebo group, according to Thomas Shea, MD, director of the Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program at the university and one of the study authors. "The results of this trial will change our treatment of multiple myeloma patients," Shea said in a press statement.

Lenalidomide carries some risks, including an increase in the development of second cancers, according to the authors.

The trial was funded by the National Cancer Institute; Celgene provided the lenalidomide and placebo used in the study.

Other drugs used in the treatment of multiple myeloma include dexamethasone, melphalan, cyclophosphamide, doxil, thalidomide, lenalidomide (Revlimid), and bortezomib (Velcade). A class of drugs called bisphosphonates are sometimes prescribed to prevent fractures and reduce bone pain in multiple myeloma patients.

Researchers at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences have discovered a new pharmacological method for stimulating immune cell opiate receptors to fight tumor cells.

A team led by Dipak Sarkar, a professor at the university's Department of Animal Sciences, focused on Mu- and Delta-opioid receptors, two different opioid receptors which form protein complexes in immune cells. The team pharmacologically manipulated these receptors to increase the immune cells' ability to kill tumor cells.

They say combining an antagonist - the Mu receptor blocker - with an agonist - the Delta receptor stimulator, caused the immune cells to increase its ability to kill foreign cells. Sarkar said that combining the opioid antagonist and agonist could have potential therapeutic value in the treatment of immune deficiencies, cancer and pain.

"Opioids act as the regulator of body stress mechanism, so when endorphins are low, body stress indicators are high," says Sarkar. The research could potentially lead to more effective regulation of stress and immune system functions through the production of endogenous opioids in the brain and the periphery, according to the researchers./

The NIH-funded research is published in the May 11 Journal of Biological Chemistry.

No big surprises here. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Mylan, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Novartis have the top highest paid CEOS, according to Fierce Pharma, which has been tracking pharmaceutical company CEO salaries for years.

William Weldon, J&J's former CEO (now chairman) took last year's prize with $26.7 million in total comp in 2011.

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Three new drugs for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) could arrive in the marketplace within a year:

• BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate) from Biogen Idec for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis was submitted to the FDA under a New Drug Application (NDA) in February.
• Aubagio (teriflunomide) by Sanofii Pasteur was submitted to the FDA for approval in October 2011.
• Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) from Genzyme, a Sanofi subsidiary, for relapsing MS is reportedly on track to be submitted to the FDA in the second quarter of 2012.