New approaches to treating patients after eventual failure of initial therapy for multiple myeloma were discussed at the EHA by Paul Richardson who described how the novel agents such as thalidomide and bortezomib can be re-used in patients already shown to be sensitive in front-line therapy, and how there are now other options to follow on. He gives ecancer tv his assessment of the state of the art of rescue therapy using existing treatments, seond and third generation immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors, and new agents — all of which offer to delay disease progression and prolong life beyond the improvements that have already been achieved by modern therapies.

This programme has been supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Janssen Pharmaceutica (A Johnson & Johnson Company).