EMA Review of Daratumumab (Darzalex) for the Treatment of Adult Patients Newly Diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.

The use of daratumumab in combination with established regimens for the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma has recently been authorized by the European Medicines Agency based on results from three separate phase III randomized, active controlled, open-label studies that have confirmed enhanced efficacy and tolerability in both transplant-ineligible (MMY3008 and MMY3007) and transplant-eligible (MMY3006) patients, without compromising transplant ability. Trial MMY3008 showed an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) when daratumumab was added to lenalidomide and dexamethasone compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone; the median PFS had not been reached in the daratumumab arm and was 31.9 months in the control arm (hazard ratio [HR], 0.

[Novel medical treatment modalities in hematology].

Today several monoclonal antibodies, including the anti-CD20 antibody (rituximab), the anti-CD52 antibody (alemtuzumab) and the anti-CD33 antibody (gemtuzumab ozogamacin) are all integrated in the therapeutic armamentarium of patients with malignant lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and acute myelogenous leukaemia, respectively. Rituximab has also been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of refractory autoimmune haemolytic anemias, idiopathic thrombocytopenia, and relapsing thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. New signal transduction inhibitors, dasatinib and nilotinib, are being used in patients with chronic myelogeneous leukaemia who develop resistance to imatinib.

[The role of cell adhesion molecules in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer].

Adhesion molecules participate in a broad variety of biological processes, i.e. tumour progression and inflammation, through their involvement in cell-to-cell interactions and immunoinflammatory cell migration.

Characterization of N-cadherin messenger RNA and polypeptide expression in rat.

The cell adhesion molecule N-cadherin is a member of the cadherin gene superfamily. The protein is involved in morphogenetic processes, including neurite extension. In this study, N-cadherin mRNA and polypeptide expression were investigated in rat brain, liver, muscle, heart, kidney and lung during postnatal development and aging.

Molecular biology of cadherins in the nervous system.

Cadherins are cell-cell adhesion molecules belonging to the Ca(2+)-dependent cadherin superfamily. In the last few years the number of cadherins identified in the nervous system has increased considerably. Cadherins are integral membrane glycoproteins.