For some common cancers, including cancers of the breast, large bowel, bladder, and uterus, low socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to higher risk and poorer outcome. The relationship between SES and blood cancers such as myeloma in developed countries remains relatively unexplored, however.

Physicians at the Karolinska University Hospital at Solna and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm recently showed a positive correlation between high (SES), survival rate for multiple myeloma, and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) among patients listed in …

At the recent XII International Myeloma Workshop (IMW), physicians addressed the ongoing "cure versus control" debate in treating multiple myeloma. Though it can seem like a philosophical matter, the debate is extremely important to patient care. Whether a doctor aims to cure the patient or to control the disease will affect the type of treatment selected.

Even though there is still no cure for multiple myeloma, many physicians believe that the long-term survival experienced by many patients is nearly the …

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) reports that the growth of off-label prescribing has slowed since 2005.

The term "off-label" refers to pharmaceuticals prescribed for purposes other than for which the drug is formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Doctors most commonly prescribe drugs off-label when the scientific and clinical evidence supports its use, there are few or no approved treatments for the condition, or other therapies were not effective. Off-label use of drugs is fairly common …

Medicare recently increased the number of drug compendia that it relies on when deciding whether to cover the off-label use of a drug. This policy change will likely result in expanded coverage of off-label uses of cancer drugs. While a previous Myeloma Beacon article reported on the expanded coverage, this article takes a closer look at the compendia and at what this policy change might mean for multiple myeloma patients.

Off-label prescribing is when a drug is prescribed for …

A num­ber of new drugs are on the horizon for re­lapsed and re­frac­tory patients, as discussed by physicians at the 2009 Inter­na­tional Myeloma Workshop (IMW). The dis­cus­sion covered drugs in all stages of devel­op­ment, from those still undergoing initial lab testing to ones already in inter­na­tional clin­i­cal trials.

Overall re­spon­siveness to treat­ment has im­proved dramatically with the recent in­tro­duc­tion of more potent agents such as Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib). Doctors are now testing com­bi­na­tions of …

The Waldenstrom's Award for lifetime achievement was presented to Brian G. M. Durie, M. D., last week for his many contributions to multiple myeloma research. The award is named for Professor Jan Waldenstrom, who was a pioneer in treating blood cancers, and was presented by the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) at the opening of the XII International Myeloma Workshop last week in Washington, D.C.

Durie is an accomplished hematologist/oncologist and medical researcher, and represents the interests of …

In November 2008, Myeloma Canada, which works in close affiliation with the International Myeloma Foundation, commissioned a national survey called Time to Life on cancer and treatment in Canada.

The survey found that multiple myeloma is still relatively unknown to the general population. An estimated 6,000 Canadians live with the condition. Only 15 percent of Canadians surveyed were able to identify multiple myeloma as a blood cancer. One third thought it was a type of skin cancer, and 36 percent …