Efficacy was evaluated in a subpopulation of 97 patients who received four or more prior lines of therapy and were refractory to at least one proteasome inhibitor, one immunomodulatory agent, and a CD38-directed antibody.The application for melphalan flufenamide was granted priority review and orphan drug designations. Society and culture
Legal status
On 23 June 2022, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product Pepaxti, intended for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The applicant for this medicinal product is Oncopeptides AB. Names
Melphalan flufenamide is the international nonproprietary name (INN). References
External links
"Melphalan flufenamide". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Clinical trial number NCT02963493 for "A Study of Melphalan Flufenamide (Melflufen) in Combination With Dexamethasone in Relapsed Refractory Multiple Myeloma Patients (HORIZON)" at ClinicalTrials.gov
"FDA alerts patients and health care professionals about clinical trial results showing an increased risk of death associated with Pepaxto (melphalan flufenamide)". U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 23 August 2021.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic In Scotland, the local NHS started using a swallowable sponge (Cytosponge) in hospitals to collect cell samples for diagnosis. Preliminary studies have shown this diagnostic test to be a useful tool for screening people with heartburn symptoms and improved diagnosis. Intestinal metaplasia
The presence of goblet cells, called intestinal metaplasia, is necessary to make a diagnosis of Barretts esophagus. This frequently occurs in the presence of other metaplastic columnar cells, but only the presence of goblet cells is diagnostic. The metaplasia is grossly visible through a gastroscope, but biopsy specimens must be examined under a microscope to determine whether cells are gastric or colonic in nature. Colonic metaplasia is usually identified by finding goblet cells in the epithelium and is necessary for the true diagnosis.Many histologic mimics of Barretts esophagus are known (i.e. goblet cells occurring in the transitional epithelium of normal esophageal submucosal gland ducts, "pseudogoblet cells" in which abundant foveolar [gastric] type mucin simulates the acid mucin true goblet cells). Assessment of relationship to submucosal glands and transitional-type epithelium with examination of multiple levels through the tissue may allow the pathologist to reliably distinguish between goblet cells of submucosal gland ducts and true Barretts esophagus (specialized columnar metaplasia). The histochemical stain Alcian blue pH 2.5 is also frequently used to distinguish true intestinal-type mucins from their histologic mimics. Recently, immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies to CDX-2 (specific for mid and hindgut intestinal derivation) has also been used to identify true intestinal-type metaplastic cells.