[Beacon Staff]

Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by Beacon Staff on Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:23 am

We are very sorry to report that regular Beacon reader and contributor Gary E. Blau passed away recently as a result of complications related to his multiple myeloma.

Many of you may recall Gary as the myeloma patient who was passionate about optimizing the dosing of the drugs used to treat multiple myeloma and other diseases. He posted regularly on that subject in the comments to articles here at The Beacon, and he also wrote a guest column on the subject, which you can read here:

“Multiple Myeloma Treatment: Individualizing The Dosing”

Gary did more, however, than just write about this topic here and elsewhere on the Internet. He also was actively carrying out research related to it, in collaboration with myeloma specialists and other scientists.

This research led to two recent scientific articles that Gary co-authored. One looked at better ways to optimize the dosing of cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan),

Comparison of an assumption-free Bayesian approach with Optimal Sampling Schedule to a maximum a posteriori Approach for Personalizing Cyclophosphamide Dosing

while a second looked at ways to improve the dosing of gabapentin (Neurontin), a drug that is sometimes given to myeloma patients to reduce peripheral neuropathy,

Validation of a Novel Approach for Dose Individualization in Pharmacotherapy Using Gabapentin in a Proof of Principles Study

Gary was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2009, and the particular variant of the disease that afflicted him was challenging to treat. One of the key hurdles he faced was that he was never able to harvest sufficient stem cells for a stem cell transplant. He discussed this issue, and the treatments he had received at the time, in a forum posting that was made when Dr. Philip McCarthy was a guest in the forum, answering questions from patients and caregivers.

Despite the challenges stemming from his myeloma, Gary was incredibly active, and the emails he regularly exchanged with us here at The Beacon were always brimming with energy and enthusiasm. He was a valued, dear member of the myeloma community, and we will miss him very much.

We offer our condolences to Gary’s family and friends, and hope that you will join us in wishing them all the best.

You can read more about Gary’s life in his obituary.

[TerryH]

Re: Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by TerryH on Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:06 pm

Very sorry to hear of Gary's passing. He was a good voice to have in the community, and he was doing important work.

I found another paper that he worked on that apparently hasn't been published yet. It was an abstract at the 2012 ASCO meeting:

Individualizing the starting dose for MPT therapy in elderly myeloma patients
http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/98797-114

Also, this tribute to him has a bit more information about his life and work:

http://cache.org/site/news_stand/winter14%20Gary%20Blau%20Tribute.pdf

[Baptistrev]

Re: Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by Baptistrev on Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:45 am

Add my name to his list of admirers and beneficiaries of his blogs. He is and will be missed

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by Nancy Shamanna on Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:54 am

I am also sorry to hear of the passing of Gary Blau. As a scientist who turned his skills to the dosing issues of drugs used to treat myeloma, he was making a wonderful contribution. I just re read his 'opinion piece' from 2010, which I found from the 'search' box above.

Just from my experiences taking Revlimid, I know that 'one dose does not fit all' for patients. The drugs used to treat us do have toxicities that must be carefully monitored, and he was working on that important issue.

[Multibilly]

Re: Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by Multibilly on Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:06 pm

I just read some of his research, and I too am impressed by his work and thinking with respect to multiple myeloma ... and saddened by his passing.

[Mark]

Re: Gary Blau - Myeloma Patient & Researcher

by Mark on Sat Apr 19, 2014 8:38 am

Gary will be missed. He was great voice to have in the myeloma community. You need patients / doctors that think different than the "crowd" to make progress, and Gary definitely challenged the status quo. The "take all the Revlimid you can stand until you relapse" has to be about the least personalized treatment philosophy I could imagine and, unfortunately, that is how most of the "myeloma thought leaders" think.