Using a specialized orthopedic software package, the authors investigated the sagittal spinal shape and the position of the pelvis in the space in patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis and in persons with no such symptoms. Digitized lateral spinal radiographs of 30 healthy volunteers and 48 patients were evaluated. The absolute values and significant correlations between parameters were analyzed. The pelvic parameters correlated well with lordosis, which shows sagittal balance in the asymptomatic group. The hyperlordosis and the horizontally positioned sacrum in isthmic spondylolisthesis enlarge the tensile force component of gravity, which may cause the lysis. Finally, the authors developed a new balance between the pelvis and the spine after slipping of the vertebral body. The degree of slipping correlated well with the sacrofemoral anatomic constant (incidence), which is unique in each person.

Carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor, is approved as monotherapy and in combination with dexamethasone or lenalidomide–dexamethasone (Rd) for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The approval of carfilzomib–lenalidomide–dexamethasone (KRd) was based on results from the randomized, phase 3 study ASPIRE (NCT01080391), which showed KRd significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs Rd (median 26.3 vs 17.6 months; hazard ratio (HR)=0.690; P=0.0001). This subgroup analysis of ASPIRE evaluated KRd vs Rd by number of previous lines of therapy and previous exposure to bortezomib, thalidomide or lenalidomide. Treatment with KRd led to a 12-month improvement in median PFS vs Rd after first relapse (HR 0.713) and a 9-month improvement after ⩾2 previous lines of therapy (HR 0.720). Treatment with KRd led to an approximate 8-month improvement vs Rd in median PFS in bortezomib-exposed patients (HR 0.699), a 15-month improvement in thalidomide-exposed patients (HR 0.587) and a 5-month improvement in lenalidomide-exposed patients (HR 0.796). Objective response and complete response or better rates were higher with KRd vs Rd, irrespective of previous treatment. KRd had a favorable benefit–risk profile and should be considered an appropriate treatment option for patients with 1 or ⩾2 previous lines of therapy and those previously exposed to bortezomib, thalidomide or lenalidomide.

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SummaryA primary analysis of the ASPIRE study found that the addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone (carfilzomib group) significantly improved progression‐free survival (PFS) compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone (control group) in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma (RMM). This post hoc analysis examined outcomes from ASPIRE in patients categorised by age. In the carfilzomib group, 103/396 patients were ≥70 years old, and in the control group, 115/396 patients were ≥70 years old. Median PFS for patients <70 years old was 28·6 months for the carfilzomib group versus 17·6 months for the control group [hazard ratio (HR), 0·701]. Median PFS for patients ≥70 years old was 23·8 months for the carfilzomib group versus 16·0 months for the control group (HR, 0·753). For patients <70 years the overall response rate (ORR) was 86·0% (carfilzomib group) and 66·9% (control group); for patients ≥70 years old the ORR was 90·3% (carfilzomib group) and 66·1% (control group). Within the carfilzomib group, grade ≥3 cardiovascular adverse events occurred more frequently among patients ≥70 years old compared with patients <70 years old. Carfilzomib‐lenalidomide‐dexamethasone has a favourable benefit‐risk profile for patients with RMM, including elderly patients ≥70 years old. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01080391.

Using a special software program we measured spinopelvic parameters on digitised radiographs of the entire spine and the pelvis of 50 patients with lumbar disc herniation and compared these with the same measurements on 30 healthy subjects. In the disc hernia group the patients had a relatively straight spine in the sagittal plane. The sacrum was more vertical, and the value of the lumbar lordosis was lower, as was the amplitude of the spinal curvatures, when compared with those of the healthy group. This results in a higher gravitational compressive force which may, in turn, lead to progressive degeneration of the discs. The anterior shift of the line of gravity may cause spinopelvic instability, and contraction of the posterior spinal muscles in trying to balance this disturbed spatial relationship may produce back pain.Résumé Avec un logiciel spécial nous avons mesuré des paramètres rachidiens et pelviens sur les radiographies numérisées de 50 patients avec hernie discale lombaire et de 30 sujets sains. Dans le groupe avec hernie discale les patients avaient une colonne vertébrale relativement droite dans le plan sagittal. Le sacrum était plus vertical, la lordose lombaire plus discrète et donc l'amplitude des courbures vertébrales plus faible en comparaison du groupe sain. Cela peut mener à la dégénérescence progressive des disques, par suite d'une plus grande force compressive gravitationnelle. La modification de la ligne de gravité antérieure peut causer l'instabilité rachidienne -pelvienne. Les muscles vertébraux postérieurs peuvent avoir tendance à corriger ce déséquilibre spatial ce qui peut causer des douleurs postérieures.

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Background: Lenalidomide with dexamethasone (Rd) is a standard of care used for pts with relapsed multiple myeloma (RMM). The randomized, open-label, multicenter, phase 3 study ASPIRE (NCT01080391) is comparing carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) to Rd in pts with RMM. The primary end point is progression-free survival (PFS; assessed by an independent review committee). Secondary end points include overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), health-related quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 Global Health Status/QoL), and safety. Methods: Adults with RMM who received 1–3 prior regimens were eligible. Pts were randomized (1:1) to receive KRd or Rd and were stratified by β2-microglobulin levels (<2.5 vs ≥2.5 mg/L), prior bortezomib (no vs yes), and prior R (no vs yes). All pts received lenalidomide (25 mg) on days 1–21 and dexamethasone (40 mg) on days 1, 8, 15, and 22 of a 28-day cycle. In addition, KRd pts received K as a 10-min infusion on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, and 16 during cycles 1–12 (20 mg/m2 [days 1 and 2 of cycle 1]; 27 mg/m2 thereafter); K was omitted on days 8 and 9 during cycles 13–18 and was not administered beyond 18 cycles. Cycles were repeated until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent. The study had 90% power to detect a 25% reduction in risk for PFS events for KRd vs Rd (hazard ratio [HR]=0.75) at a 1-sided significance level of 0.025. A stratified log-rank test was used for the PFS comparison. Results: Data are presented for KRd followed by Rd throughout the abstract. Between July 2010 and March 2012, 792 pts from 20 countries were randomized. Baseline characteristics were balanced between the 2 groups. Median age was 64.0 years (range: 31.0‒91.0). Pts received a median of 2 prior regimens in each group. In both the KRd and Rd groups, 66% of pts received prior bortezomib; 20% of pts in each arm received prior R. Median treatment exposure was 22 cycles (KRd) and 14 cycles (Rd). At the time of the prespecified interim analysis, the study met the primary end point for PFS (HR=0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.57–0.83; P<.0001), with a longer duration of median PFS in the KRd group (26.3 months [mo]; 95% CI: 23.3–30.5) compared with the Rd group (17.6 mo; 95% CI: 15.0–20.6). Median OS was not reached in either group; however, there was a trend toward longer OS with KRd compared with Rd (HR=0.79; 95% CI: 0.63–0.99; P=.018), which did not meet the prespecified statistical boundary at the interim analysis of survival (P=.005). The Kaplan-Meier OS event-free rates at 24 mo were 73.3% (95% CI: 68.6‒77.5) and 65.0% (95% CI: 59.9‒69.5). The ORR was 87.4% (95% CI: 83.7–90.5) with KRd and 66.9% (95% CI: 62.0–71.5) with Rd. Median DOR was 28.6 mo (95% CI: 24.9–31.3) and 21.2 mo (95% CI: 16.7–25.8). In the KRd and Rd groups, 31.8% vs 9.4% achieved a stringent complete response (sCR) or complete response (CR) (sCR: 14.1% vs 4.3%; CR: 17.7% vs 5.1%), and 70.4% and 40.7% achieved ≥very good partial response. KRd consistently improved Global Health Status/QoL compared with Rd over 18 cycles of treatment (P=.0001). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse event (AE) occurred in 15.2% (KRd) and 17.4% (Rd) of pts. In each group, 7.7% and 8.5% of pts died while still on study treatment or within 30 days of receiving the last dose of study treatment. The most common hematologic treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs) (≥grade 3) included neutropenia (29.6% vs 26.5%), anemia (17.9% vs 17.2%), and thrombocytopenia (16.6% vs 12.3%). The most common nonhematologic TEAEs (all grade) included diarrhea (42.3% vs 33.7%), fatigue (32.9% vs 30.6%), and cough (28.8% vs 17.2%). The most common nonhematologic TEAEs (≥grade 3) included pneumonia (12.5% vs 10.5%), hypokalemia (9.4% vs 4.9%), and hypophosphatemia (8.4% vs 4.6%). Other TEAEs of interest (grouped terms; all grade) included dyspnea (22.4% vs 18.0%), hypertension (preferred term; all grade: 14.3% vs 6.9%; grade 3: 4.3% vs 1.8%), acute renal failure (8.4% vs 7.2%), cardiac failure (6.4% vs 4.1%), and ischemic heart disease (5.9% vs 4.6%). Rates of peripheral neuropathy (PN) (grouped terms; all grade) were 17.1% and 17.0%; ≥grade 3 PN was infrequent (2.6% and 3.1%). Conclusion: The addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone in pts with RMM resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS. KRd had an acceptable safety and tolerability profile and represents a potential new standard of care. Disclosures Stewart: Novartis: Consultancy; Array BioPharma: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Millenium: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy. Off Label Use: Carfilzomib is approved in the United States for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory agent and have demonstrated disease progression on or within 60 days of completion of the last therapy. ASPIRE is a randomized, multi-center, phase 3 study investigating the use of carfilzomib in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received 1–3 prior regimens.. Dimopoulos:Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Onyx: Consultancy, Honoraria. Masszi:Janssen Cilag: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Spicka:Janssen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Oriol:Celgene: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Hájek:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Onyx: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Rosiñol:Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria. Siegel:Onyx: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Millennium: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Niesvizky:Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Millennium: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Jakubowiak:Onyx Pharmaceticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. San Miguel:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Onyx: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millinnium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Ludwig:Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda Celgene: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Bristol-Myers: Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Zojwalla:Onyx Pharmaceticals, an Amgen subsidiary: Employment, Equity Ownership. Tonda:Onyx Pharmaceticals, an Amgen subsidiary: Employment, Equity Ownership. Xing:Onyx Pharmaceticals, an Amgen subsidiary: Employment, Equity Ownership. Moreau:Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Onyx: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Palumbo:Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Millennium Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janseen-Cilag: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genmab A/S: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen, Inc,: Consultancy, Honoraria; Array BioPharma: Honoraria.