A combination of the drugs Velcade and belinostat may be active in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, according to results of a small Phase 1 clinical trial.

These results were presented during a poster session at the 2011 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting last month.

Velcade (bortezomib) is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma.

Belinostat (PXD 101), which is being developed jointly by the American company Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SPPI) and the Danish company TopoTarget, belongs…

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2011 annual meeting is currently being held in San Diego. This article will summarize the myelodysplastic syndromes-related highlights from Saturday, the first full day of the conference, and Sunday, the second day of the meeting.

Day 1

Saturday started off with an education session on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) that consisted of three talks. The program was repeated in the afternoon.  

The day ended with a large poster session, during which study results from hundreds of blood disorder-related studies were displayed on big posters…

Belinostat, a new drug under development that has been shown to kill cancer cells and stop cell growth, is not an effective treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) when used alone, found a recent Phase 2 clinical trial. The findings were presented on June 5 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 annual meeting.

Belinostat, which is being jointly developed by the U.S. company Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and the Danish company TopoTarget, belongs to the class of drugs known as HDAC inhibitors. Several HDAC inhibitors have recently been approved by the…