Description
What Velcade is?
VELCADE is a proteasome inhibitor indicated for:
• treatment of patients with multiple myeloma
• treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma
What Bortezomib is?
Bortezomib, sold under the brand name Velcade among others, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. This includes multiple myeloma in those who have and have not previously received treatment. It is generally used together with other medications.
Bortezomib is an anti-cancer drug and the first therapeutic proteasome inhibitor to be used in humans. Proteasomes are cellular complexes that break down proteins. In some cancers, the proteins that normally kill cancer cells are broken down too quickly. Bortezomib interrupts this process and lets those proteins kill the cancer cells. It is approved in the U.S. and Europe for treating relapsed multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. In multiple myeloma, complete clinical responses have been obtained in patients with otherwise refractory or rapidly advancing disease.
