Pomalidomide was one of the potential new myeloma treatments in the spotlight at the 2011 meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) held earlier this month.

The consensus is that the drug, a chemical relative of thalidomide and Revlimid, performed well during its time on the stage.

Research findings about pomalidomide (Pomalyst) were summarized in four of the meeting’s oral presentations and a number of poster presentations.

Most of these presentations examined pomalidomide’s efficacy and safety as a potential treatment for relapsed and refractory myeloma …

I wish my doctors talked with each other.

Not all of them, just the main ones:  My two oncologists, my primary care physician, and my nephrologist.  Those are the doctors that I see regularly.

Sometimes they send each other their notes from my most recent visit, although I’m not sure this happens efficiently all the time.  On top of that, I suspect that these office visit notes don’t get read until I pop up in the queue for an appointment with one of those doctors.  That could be weeks, even …

What were the myeloma-related "hidden gems" of the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, which ended two weeks ago?

The Beacon asked exactly this question of its Medical Advisors -- the myeloma specialists who generously share their knowledge and expertise in the Beacon's myeloma discussion forum.

And the responses from the Advisors were surprising.

Surprising, because they were so similar.

The three Advisors who responded to the Beacon's question indepen­dently picked the same "hidden gem" -- specifically, the research presented at the meeting showing that …

The week between Christmas and New Year is a time to appreciate, give, and celebrate. It is also a good time for reflection.

I imagine what direction my own life will take during 2012. What do I want? What can I do?

I wonder about the people who have just received a diagnosis for multiple myeloma and others who remain in treatment. I wonder about people suffering from a variety of other ailments, as many of my friends are.

People make resolutions at this time of year, and many of …

As the 2011 holiday season reaches it peak, all of us here at The Myeloma Beacon would like to thank you, our readers, for giving us the greatest gift possible: your time.  We appreciate your coming to The Beacon and reading our articles, sharing your thoughts about them with us, and discussing them – and many other topics! – in our forums.

The holiday season is a time of many different traditions.  It also is a busy time, when it is easy to lose track of the special meaning this …

It has been ten days since the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of He­ma­tol­ogy (ASH) came to a close.

Since the meeting started, The Beacon has been providing detailed coverage in the form of discussion forum postings, daily up­dates, and in-depth articles about key re­search findings.

In this and The Beacon's next article about the meeting, how­ever, the per­spective changes a bit.

The focus shifts to the bigger picture -- to questions like: "What was the im­pact of the …

Five or six years ago, I noticed that my wife was consistently biking a lot faster than I was when we took bike rides on the weekends or when I met her on her way home from work. 

So, as a 60^th birthday present to myself, I bought a very lightweight bike constructed out of space-age material in the hope that I could keep up.

Alas, the flashy new bike didn’t help: my wife continued to outpace me. She is a tiny woman, but she also is two years younger …